Meet Susan Woods of Tucson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Susan Woods.

Hi Susan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have always been artistic, starting with music and playing the classical piano until my teenage point when I decided I no longer enjoyed it. From there, my high school teacher suggested art school. I chose art schools over college education, therefore receiving a trade-school education in the visual arts under remarkable teachers, teaching their unique tricks and knowledge. I continued this schooling until I was 35 and had some years off to adjust to life. Being taught by professional artists allowed me to learn many crafts to make sculptures. Coming from an entrepreneurial family, I started many small businesses to make money. This included teaching plaster mold-making at the higher education level and privately in my studio. I also cast sculptures for others and started and co-owning a bronze foundry. I fabricated for high-end designers in NYC and later created the commercial and trademarked name Aswoon®, which sold to many parts of the world “design art” or functional art, which to me at the time was My art, and was celebrated in over 100 editorials, many television and video programs. I was lucky to be the creator of unusual art and design objects. My fine art training and professional background allowed me complete freedom to play.

I moved from Brooklyn, NY, to Tucson, AZ, about 3.5 years ago. My studio of over 20 years, located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, was transitioned. Being in the desert and amongst the history that is still a living and breathing artifact has expanded and extended my study. My practice morphed slowly out of the functional arena before arriving here in the Southwest. The materials I used as a maker/designer were the upholstery spring and bent poplar plywood. Using upholstery springs piqued interest in symbols and cultural expression as the natural shapes are very old in our common visual history. Being in this area, surrounded by ancient drawings and etchings in rock, immersed in the civilizations that came before me has influenced my work, enhanced my study, and enriched my studio practice generally, along with the desert flora and big sky. I also work part-time in a well-respected Indian art gallery, a 2nd-generation family that buys directly from local tribes and pueblos and others in the US. Meeting and talking with these artisans/artists and working in a scholarly atmosphere has taught me much about the Native Americans as they live now and have in the past. All this has helped me grow as a person and in the studio. I have been to some local exhibitions and have kept my NY connections where my career became established. I hope to meet more people and clients who understand my mixture of big-urban with the flair learned from this part of the world.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Since I love what I am doing, I would not define living as an artist as a struggle, though that is relative to those who have chosen a more stable way to live their days. I have had some financial issues, some substantial ones. Though I chose this way, even with the type of education I wanted, I am satisfied with these choices and the lessons I have learned in this lifetime.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar with what you do, what can you tell them about what you do?
I like sculpture and drawing. The vast sculptural language does not limit my practice to one subject or another. Working the spectrum of object-making and creating different vibrations makes for learning and tremendous expansion in the field. Therefore, I make furniture, home furnishings, delicate art objects, and craft items. This makes my work unique. I became well-known for my high-end design or functional art, and I was lucky to be selected internationally for editorials about this work. My fine art has also had attention for its originality. I would say that I am most proud of this word, “originality,” for all of what I do. That we all use the history of what has come before makes us users of, dependent on, those whose unique-ness gives them placement in our known, shared history. So, my work is not wholly new; it is simply a derivative. However, I take pride in the freedom of expression I follow due to my extensive education, which was a trade school, not a college degree. I feel lucky to have reached an interested audience and purchased from many places worldwide. I also feel thankful for the changes in my art and design work due to growth and the different places I have lived/worked and traveled.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Many trends are extending/expanding the digital with the visual arts and crafts and science, too. I hope that the continuance of learning one’s craft and whatever currents occur will encourage the arts to remain at a high level. I believe in the history of traditions as jumping points to creative thought, which gives freedom to explore wildly. That is a classical idea. I have come to learn through my position in a well-respected Indian Arts gallery that the Native Americans are classicists, too, making superbly crafted arts and crafts that are out-of-this-world and defining contemporary. My wish is the continuance of traditions that grow with technology, making discoveries that point to a better understanding of the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.aswoon.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sus_woods/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=aswoon%2Fsusan%20woods
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-woods-81360114
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AswoonSusanWoods
• Other: https://youtu.be/UhJ2p5gldNg

Image Credits
Kris Graves, Istvan Visner David, Britton Jeff, Britton Kronus Photography