Susan Shoaff-Ballanger

     Textile materials and processes provide me with continual possibilities for creating images that scramble about in my brain.     My work serves to document the narrative aspects of events common to many viewers.    For me, the creative process often begins with a serendipitous observation, conversation, story, or event.   My work frequently chronicles events in my life as it intersects with the lives of those around me. To me it is not so important that the viewer know from where the images came, but rather that they relate to the image and the text in terms of their own experiences.

      I especially enjoy the flexibility of working through the progression of textile processes that lead to the final piece.   Some of my favorite elements of the procedure are reconstructing surfaces to create layers of visual information and the utilization of the sewing machine as a free-motion drawing tool.  

       Currently, I am involved with two different themes:   the beginning of a series about my recent total shoulder replacement titled   "Inside," and an ongoing series inspired by a comment made to me about my size titled "But she has such a pretty face... "       I have come to the end of a series about my childhood in Florida called: Poodles and Alligators: Growing Up In the Sunshine State.