Abstract Impressionist Susan Marx’s gestural abstractions are translations of emotion into pure color. Painting with energy and spontaneity, Marx paints in bold, gestural strokes of unblended pigment. She uses the fast drying medium of acrylic paint to record scenes and experiences quickly, leaving portions of the raw canvas exposed to create tension between positive and negative spaces. Choosing not to paint her canvases to their edges, Marx’s compositions are floating shapes inside the picture plane.
In her painting titled Turbulence, Marx paints with confident brushstrokes and juxtaposes complementary colors of red and green to create a dynamic composition. Under the Sea is an abstraction embracing the analogous tones of the ocean—blue, deep violet, navy, and green evoke the cool shades of water aquatic life. Finally, The Old Port, Cassis painted en plein air is among Marx’s more representational images; the shapes of the houses by the port are clearly visible, and the watery reflections of the architecture ripple through the lower half of the canvas. Lyrical and emotive, these paintings capture Marx’s visceral experiences of the world.
