Independent Arts News Reporting Unveiling the Soulful Tapestry of Sue Collier's Art
Pictured Above: Artwork: Sue Collier, Father’s Day, Oil on canvas. Photo Credit: Contributed.
Newsroom Post: PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Princeton, NJ –The Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) will show Family Recollections, an
exhibition of figurative paintings from memory, imagination, and plein air by artist Sue Collier. Family Recollections will be on view in the Arts Council’s Taplin Gallery June 17 through July 22, with an Opening Reception on Saturday, June 17 from 3-5pm.
Collier’s body of work showcases her intuitive understanding of the figure’s storytelling prowess. Vibrant colors
dapple her pieces, charged with both an intimate emotion and a particularly American ethos.
“The figure remains central to most of my work” shares Collier, “but because of the nature of plein air, working
with a time/light pressure the figure is often omitted. Later in the studio, I will sometimes add figures. The figure
is meaningful, it is the subject and tells the story, becomes the story, and makes the painting. I am observing
experiences from my life, distinctly depicting Americans who were raised here. As fortunate as I think we have
been as Americans, we are a complex people with unique understandings and feelings that I believe leaves us with an unusual psychological weight of emotions that I want to record.
Sue Collier is a Boston-born artist working and living in NYC. Collier’s practice includes three directions: plein
air, studio painting, and drawing. She earned her BFA and MFA and was awarded The Skowhegan School of
Painting and Sculpture Fellowship from Boston University. She is also a 2020 NYFA Fellow in Drawing. SUNY-
Purchase gave her half-time tenure and multiple awards. She was granted The Weir Farm Visiting Artist
residency and has lectured at Dartmouth College, Queens College, Boston University, Kent State, Marymount
Manhattan College at New York City and Tarrytown, and Adelphi University. She has been a board member of
The Women’s Caucus for Art NYC and The Painting Center. Collier was included in the Mary H. Dana Women
Artists Series and participated in the Art in Embassies Program exhibiting in Africa. Collier’s work has been
reviewed by The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Art News, Art in America, Art New England, Women
Artist News, among others.
Also on view in the Arts Council of Princeton’s Paul Robeson Center for the Arts are Raíces, an homage to
México by Abelardo Montaño, and Princeton is My Home/Princeton es mi Casa, an ACP collaboration with
the YMCA’s Princeton Young Achievers, a unique after-school program that helps children from low- and
moderate-income families improve their school performance and English language skills through art.
Gallery hours are Mon-Thurs, 9am-5pm; Fri & Sat, 10am-4pm; Sun 9:30am-12:30pm. Free and open to
the public. 102 Witherspoon Street, Princeton. For more information, visit artscouncilofprinceton.org.
