Pieced Together: Images, Icons and Idols - My Art History, an Exhibition of Works by Susan Koen

Susan Koen was born in Missouri but has lived and traveled all over the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and traveled to Europe for three summers. She learned to sew and crochet from her mom and grandmothers at around age five, before she could even read. She learned to use power tools and to change the oil in a car from her dad at around age twelve, and learned to use even bigger power tools and to build props as an undergraduate technical theatre major.

"I tend to work in series using multiple media, however the medium that ties them all together is fibers," said Koen. "Each series has its own characteristics, roots and branches, but like members of a family there are similar traits and overlapping imagery."

"I identify each grouping by the dominant imagery, not by the medium," she continued. "I have always maintained that images and ideas choose the media. Each group demands my attention and time, and then goes dormant while one of the other groups rises in importance and urgency. They seem to weave in and out of each other like a very rich and complexly woven fabric."

An opening reception for Pieced Together: Images, Icons and Idols - My Art History, will take place on Friday, April 10 from 5-7 p.m.

The Wolz Ruzicka Hallway Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. All gallery exhibitions, events and talks are free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact Dr. Joni Hand at jhand@semo.edu.