Susan Grace is a contemporary figurative artist whose paintings have their basis in the human form yet each portrait captures a figure in flux. Her work primarily focuses on the female figure and explores the various ways feminine identify can be expressed. In her portraits, organic forms, adornment, and masks are used to indicate psychological or spiritual states and to facilitate the creation of new personas. They both disguise and conceal as well as express a certain character and spirit.

Q&A What is the impetus of this series? Because of my academic background in teaching English literature and theater, I have always been interested in a narrative in which a protagonist undergoes a process of change, and my paintings have continually explored that idea. In my current series of portraits, there is a focus on a central female figure, but I want the narrative to be left open and for the figure to be absorbed in her own private world as she experiences various states of transformation that indicate a merging with nature and other realms. Which was the breakthrough piece? The breakthrough piece was Reverberation, which is a portrait of a woman dressed formally and covered in flowers. I wanted to portray her intense vitality, so some of the flowers winding around her are oversized and composed of abstract blocks of color as if they are exploding. Emerging from her head is a strip of abstracted organic shapes, which indicates a powerful energy radiating out from her mind and body. She is timeless – she could be a model for a contemporary fashion advertisement or a depiction of an ancient goddess welcoming fertility and rebirth. Who or what are the subjects in your series? The subjects in this series are female figures who are wrapped, preserved, and protected in some fashion. The organic forms, adornment, or masks that cover them serve as signs or symbols and assist them by placing them in an extraordinary realm outside mundane reality. They are on a journey that has no fixed destination. 
What are some of the other series you have created? In one series I portrayed figures as if they were on a stage with props arrayed around them. I worked in a realistic style, and the figures were often framed by highly stylized backdrops. I hired or used friends as models, and most of them were theater actors. In another series I created life-sized paintings. I wanted the viewer to be able to step into the paintings, become immersed in that world, and be able to communicate directly with my subjects. These figures suggested ancient or classical goddesses and the spaces around them.