E19 - Susan Fecho - Appalacia, Vernacular, and "Slow Art"

 Susan Fecho

Susan Fecho, the artist. All images are courtesy of the artist.

My work interprets the past as a personal, cultural, and archetypal artifact. The human body, architectural unit, and surrounding landscape become metaphors in my work. Trained as a traditional printmaker, I am intrigued by the richness and variety inherent in varied techniques. Storytelling is at the core of my work, with the sculptural book as a mode of telling stories, expressing feelings, and sharing imagery. Through my work the familiar reappears in unfamiliar configurations; a new sense of significance is imparted to an otherwise everyday object. My creative interests extend beyond the viewed subject, encompassing sculptural elements, allegorical imagery, and whimsical puns. In my work, there are varied layers of material and multiple facets of meaning.

Susan Fecho, a Professor of Art at Barton College, has shown in 25 solo exhibitions and over a hundred invitationals. Fecho’s published images have been accepted into several major collections: the Smithsonian Institution’s American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery Library, Washington, D.C.; the Word and Image Department, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; and the Museum of Women Artists, Washington, D.C. Fecho is a multi-media printmaker/surface designer with an earned M.F.A. from East Carolina University as well as postgraduate studies from various institutions including; Jan Van Eyck Academie, Humboldt Field Research Institute, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Northern Illinois University and Penland School of Crafts. She has exhibited regionally, nationally and internationally – and has received numerous awards, grants and residencies.

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Susan - I am so pleased to have this opportunity to talk with you about your art and process. Let's begin!

What do you love about making art?

On a personal level, the making of art satisfies an internal need, is meditative, and I love the “craft” of making. I have a “day job” to allow myself to produce art that heals or soothe my personal ethos - and my career as an art educator nurtures the personal desire to be a producing studio artist. Born of the Appalachians, My DNA provided a storytelling “need.” I just so enjoy conjuring up a narrative that interprets the vernacular into a new work of art series.  Since I like to wander-about as part of my vernacular research, I find myself noticing and seeing surroundings  - and am inspired to produce art that shares. During high school, I studied industrial technology, music and the visual arts; on the undergraduate level, I narrowed to industrial technology and the visual arts. I have narrowed down to what area was the most self-satisfying. I elected printmaking, botanical illustration and textiles. These involve craft, science, chemistry - and not watching the clock to see “how long it takes to complete a piece. 

Lichen

How do you evaluate your work?

I ponder and ponder during the art making process, research options, and run those pesky elements of art and principles of design through my head. Works in progress are reviewed to see if I managed to “stick-to-the-plan”  [a developed proposal concerning the series]. Did I incorporate my vernacular readings? Did I work in various mediums [for I am a collector of media and techniques] and did I incorporate what makes the work “my work.” And there are times, I am “finished” with a piece when I run out of time - there seems to always be something else that could be edited or added. 

Where is your studio, and what is your primary work area?

I have a small studio building in the historic district of Tarboro, NC. The building was designed to be a carriage repair shop in the late 1800s. This building has concrete floors to manage the weight of a couple of heavy vintage printmaking presses. There is storage space to organize supplies for various techniques. The space has tables, easels, cabinets and shelves. The enjoyable part of having a studio is that you can leave items out to dry, to layout in preparation, and leave out while in progress. 

What clues or questions do you use to select an idea to invest time and resources?

The notion of vernacular as a topic has helped tremendously across several decades to narrow down the subject. I do enjoy traveling, and will work on pieces related to place. But I tend to select subjects and themes related to the regions of NC and VA that nurture my “ideal” of ancestral and social landscapes; this includes the Appalachian mountains, central Piedmont plateau and the eastern Atlantic coastal plain. I am currently working on landscapes and table-top landscapes that include imagery of the region with the collected botanicals and natural specimens from the region. 

About your work: what do you hope people notice the most?

I would hope that people slow down and look closely at my work - to see the layers of material, to notice the unfamiliar configurations, the attention to details, etc. My work is a mixed media approach with an eye for up cycled materials. 

Series V

What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

Paper, handmade paper. When I travel, I rarely purchase souvenirs - unless it is paper made in that region. I am also a sucker for vintage fabric and lace to embed into my work. 

"I am more comfortable experimenting and stepping back to “discuss” the progression of the piece." - SF

How do you define success as a creative? How do you hold yourself accountable?

That is a a loaded question that depends on age and period of your artistic career - My friends and I do talk about how to define success as a creative if you do not exhibit or work on a commission basis. Created work - as a visual artist not creating site-specific installations that are dismantled at the end of a timeframe - has to be stored.  And how many pieces can we give away to family members?

That is why I do “slow art.” I prefer to develop pieces that are time consuming  - so that I do not run through materials. I do exhibit my work when possible in regional venues, but that requires having a quantity of framed inventory prepared to deliver - and then not in inventory until after the scheduled exhibition timeframe.

I like to consider success as a creative to involve productivity, and public sharing.  Sharing to an audience can vary - from print to digital publication, or through exhibition [of local, regional, national or international level]. I enjoy making a handmade season’s greeting card each year. It is satisfying for my creative soul and then shared on a personal basis. My memo - just keep making art and maybe others will see it and enjoy. 

"18"

When do you discuss things with your inner critic?

This seems to be an on-going discussion with my own inner critic. Being a studio artist is not the same as being a designer working for a client, an artist that works on commission, or a production artist producing for a commercial market. Studio work is a lonely creation space. Now that I am older, and with health concerns, the quiet hermit like environment of my studio is comforting. I am more comfortable experimenting and stepping back to “discuss” the progression of the piece. The inner critic does have to be concerned with making only successful art  - it is the journey and progression that is important. 

Who are your creative influences, and whose work are you admiring now?

My answer will not be direct. I teach graphic design, core studio courses and art history lectures - that means I review, study and present the works of an ever widening list of artists, designers and styles. That has taught me to have a broader lens of what to admire due to saturation level. When I visit galleries and museums, I try look at the work first and the name second, with a preference to view curated exhibitions of artists I might not know. Also, my parents and in-laws were international missionaries. Their travels introduced me to artists and craftsmen that are not shown in main stream museums. It is my preference to enjoy the difference. My home is filled with work from all over the world, and I love to trade a piece of my work with the creations of my fellow artists. 

How can people follow you and your work?

I can be located on instagram @fechodesigns. 

Botanical

What would you like people to know that I haven't asked?

I am an identical twin with a sister that is a research anatomist. I draw medical illustrations for her and her colleagues publications. That “secret” career has continued across decades. We started this as an academic excuse to see each other regularly, and travel together conferences. 

Susan, I can't thank you enough for taking time out of your schedule to talk with me/us. I always learn something! And I especially love the idea of "Slow Art"! Come back anytime you have something to share.