Talking Art with Susan Logoreci
Talking Art is a quick artist interview. We ask Susan Logoreci 5 questions to help you get to know her and her art.
Let our readers know who you are, where you are from and what kind of art you create?
My name is Susan Logoreci and I make drawings of cities with colored pencils. Although I draw architecture, I never use a ruler or a projector. Because of this, my drawings have a handmade, elastic quality to them. As inspiration I use photographs that my friends and I take from helicopters. I currently live in Los Angeles but I am from Northern California originally.
What is your favourite piece of art that you have done?
I’m going to cheat a little on this Sophie’s Choice type question and instead tell you which piece has been my favorite to install and exhibit. It was a temporary, large scale mural that I did at the Los Angeles International Airport. The piece was called Los Angeles – The Dream Décor of Oblivion and it consisted of two 30’ long, 10’ high wall panels. It was a large, digital mural created by compiling a few, large scale, colored pencil drawings of aerial views of the Los Angeles skyline. Each drawing was photographed and digitally blown up many times larger than their original size and then digitally collaged to create a panoramic view of Los Angeles that was at once wondrous and overwhelming.
I loved doing this project because not only did the form and content of my work synch up perfectly with the airport, but mural had such an immediate and direct effect on people. It was located in the baggage claim area of Southwest Airlines and every time I went to visit, I saw happy people posing for pictures and having reunions in front of it. If you’re ever feeling down, go sit in the baggage claim at your local airport. You can’t find a happier place! Although the mural was only up for 6 months, it was seen by over a million people. I’m an artist who likes to connect with a wide and varied audience so this was a great venue for my work.
Show & Tell us about your workspace and the tools you use. (brushes, charcoal, steel, lasers?)
I have always had a home studio because I like being able to work for just 20 minutes here and there or late into the night and then just roll into bed. The medium I work in (colored pencils) goes well with working at home as there aren’t any chemicals or an elaborate set up required. It’s just me in a room with pencils and paper. I like to keep my set up simple because the drawings are so complex.
What are you working on right now?
I just completed a proposal to create original art for one of the new Metro Stations here in Los Angeles. As I was researching that project, I took a dusk/night helicopter flight and I have been making drawings from the images we photographed. I haven’t done too many night drawings before so it’s been a real pleasure to dive in to a more noir sensibility.
What is your favourite piece of art from another artist?
One piece that I find myself thinking about and looking at again and again is Jacob Lawrence’s The Great Migration series. The piece consists of 59 gouache paintings depicting the migration of African-Americans moving from the American South to the North in search of a better life. The Museum of Modern Art and the Phillips Foundation co-own the piece and I was lucky to see MOMA’s half when I visited New York last summer. To me, the series has everything; strong narrative, compelling abstraction, simple, direct drama that easily resonates, all playing out on the elegant, emotional stage of landscape.
Link to The Great Migration Series: http://www.phillipscollection.org/migration_series/flash/experience.cfm