Susan York facts for kids

Susan York is an American artist born in 1951. She is famous for making sculptures using a special material called cast graphite. Graphite is the same material found in pencil lead! Susan lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The bright light and wide-open spaces of the desert there give her lots of ideas for her art.

Susan York's Early Life and School

Susan York was born in Newport, Rhode Island.

She studied art at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She earned her first art degree in 1972. Later, in 1995, she got a master's degree in ceramics from the Cranbrook Academy of Art.

While in college, Susan made art that sat on the floor. These artworks often mixed flat and 3D materials. They showed how she thought about moving from drawings to sculptures.

Susan York's Art Career

After finishing her studies, Susan York kept making art in Santa Fe. She had a studio at a local Zen Center.

In 1982, Susan heard another famous artist, Agnes Martin, give a talk. Agnes Martin said, "My paintings are not about what is seen. They are about what is known forever in the mind." This idea was very important to Susan. Later, Susan and Agnes Martin became friends and mentors to each other.

In 1997, Susan was an artist-in-residence in the Netherlands. This means she was invited to live and work there for a time. She started trying out new ways to place her art within rooms. She made art with stacked pieces of delicate porcelain. She also used objects covered in black graphite powder.

Susan York's sculptures are often linked to a style called Minimalism. This art style uses very simple shapes and colors. Her work also shows that she uses her hands a lot in a repeating way to create her art. Susan York shows her art in galleries in New York and Europe.

Where You Can See Her Art

Susan York's art can be found in many public collections. These are places like museums and foundations where art is kept for everyone to see. Some of these places include:

• Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
• Lannan Foundation, Marfa, TX and Santa Fe, NM
• Museum of Fine Arts of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM
• Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt, Germany
• The Maxine & Stuart Frankel Foundation for Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
• Yale University, Beinecke Library, New Haven, CT