Statement
The earth beats and hums with zillions of tiny (or not so tiny) systems that are perfectly calibrated to maintain the balance of life. What we actually see is temporary, but the unseen is where the magic lies. Landscapes are like memories-- layers upon layers of history are recorded in one person’s psyche or one plot of land. Not just human memories, but those of all the plants and animals with whom we share this planet. Like people, the landscape reinvents itself. It heals when it’s wounded, but sometimes it scars for life. Elements of the whole are nurtured or rubbed away. I draw inspiration from the land around me. My work is an ongoing exploration, which endeavors to portray the natural world and those who live in it (or on it) as strangely beautiful -- yet enormously fragile.
Biography
Suzanne Keith Loechl was born in England and moved to the United States as a young child. Growing up she had opportunity to experience many places including the English countryside, New York, Washington DC, London and Central Illinois. This unique multicultural upbringing is a source of inspiration for Suzanne. She is particularly drawn to cultural patterns and human behavior in a variety of settings. She explores the natural and human made landscape, at times depicting it laced with organic and spiritual patterning. In the pursuit of helping create a more peaceful world of coexistence, Suzanne was recently ordained as a interfaith minister through a seminary in NYC. Her studies of Eastern and Western religions and indigenous faiths are infusing her work. Suzanne holds an undergraduate (with a minor in art) and master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the Virginia Tech and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign respectively. She lives Champaign, Illinois with her husband and two children.
Solo/Two/Three Person Exhibitions
2014 Imagined Landscape, Fermilab, Batavia, Illinois
2014 “Observing American Culture,” (with Robin Riggs) Woman Made Gallery, Chicago
2012 “Habitat,” Indigo Artist Co-Op, Champaign, IL
2011 “American Made,” Open Studios, Vincennes, IN
2006 Woman Made Gallery, Chicago (June/July)
2004 Verde Gallery (Gallery 2), Champaign, IL
Selected Group Exhibitions
2015 “Around the Block,” Parkland College, Champaign, Ill
2011 “American Dream: A Juxtaposition’” Woman Made Gallery, Chicago
2009/2008 Swope Art Museum, Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition,
Terre Haute, IN
2008 “The Art of Real Estate,” Gallery 180, Illinois Art Institute - Chicago
2007 All Star Smiles, Bolingbrook, IL
2006 Dangenart Gallery, Nashville, TN
2006 Art Attack, The Gallery at Gordon Beach Inn, Union Pier, MI
2006 Holiday Treasures Exhibition, McLean County Art Center,
Bloomington, IL
2005 “Modern Landscape,” Springfield Art Association, Springfield, IL
2005 Annual Members’ Show, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago
2003 Springer Cultural Center, Champaign, IL
Awards
2008 Illinois Art Institute, Chicago Permanent Collection Purchase Award
2008 Indiana State University Permanent Collection Purchase Award, Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition
1998 Best in Show, Illinois State Town and Country Art Show,
Judge: Jerry Savage, Professor of Art, University of Illinois
Publications
Book cover, Survivor’s Picnic, by Debra Bruce, 2012
Featured artist: “Perceptions of the Landscape,” by Jodi Heckel, At Home in Central Illinois, July/Aug/Sept 2012
Book cover, House Where a Woman, Poems by Lori Wilson, 2008
Book cover, Eden in the Rearview Mirror, Poems by Susan Elbe, 2007
Selected Collections
Art-in-Architecture Illinois Commission, Sociology Department, Lincoln Hall, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Lowell Cancer Center, Lowell Massachusetts. Commission
Mills Breast Cancer Institute, Urbana, Illinois. Commission
Springer Cultural Center, Champaign, Illinois
Woman’s Health Practice, Champaign, Illinois
Educational Background
2015 One Spirit Interfaith Seminary, New York City, New York
1987 Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture, Art minor
Virginia Polytechnic & State University, Blacksburg, Virginia
1994 Master of Landscape Architecture,
University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois
About me
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