Artist Statement

Drawing serves as a stimulus and as a basis for growth and revision in my painting.  I make diagrammatic studies to seek out the interplay of shapes in shadows, geological strata, anatomical illustration, animal architecture, and paintings by artists such as Tintoretto and Bellini.  These derivations influence how memory and the intricacies of consciousness inform my painting.  My process alternates between applications of paint; deliberate and randomized marking; the collaging of notes, sketches, texts from my studio environment; and the subsequent tearing away of these layers to simplify the surface and excavate the original intent of each painting.  I build on specific details, and attempt to grasp perceived wholes.  This process reflects my experience of the world.

cv

Education :

University of California, Davis, Master of Fine Arts, 2003.

University of California, Santa Barbara, Bachelor of Arts, 1983.

Solo Exhibitions:

Cisco Home, San Francisco, California 2012.

b.. sakata garo, Sacramento, California, 2006.

Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, California, 1994.


Erickson and Elins/Fine Art, San Francisco, 1988.

Group Exhibitions:

Blessed Unrest, Gallery Route one, Pt. Reyes Station, California, 2022

Beginnings, Gallery Route One, Pt. Reyes Station, California, 2017.


Parallel Universes, Miranda Putman and Randy Beckelheimer, Gallery 461, San Francisco, 2013.

Susan Preston, Miranda Putman, b. sakata garo, Sacramento, 2011.

The Big Painting Show, Workspace Gallery, San Francisco, 2009.

Friends and Artists, b.sakata garo, Sacramento, California, 2007.

Re-Emerging Artists, Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, 2005.

Annual Valentines Exhibition, Richard L. Nelson Gallery, UC Davis, 2004.

Introductions, b. sakata garo, Sacramento, 2003.


Master of Fine Arts Exhibition, Richard L. Nelson Gallery, UC Davis, 2003.

Art Bowl II, b. sakata garo, Sacramento, 2002.

Juried Exhibition, Pence Gallery, Davis, California, 2002.


Signs, Symbols, and Messages, Florence Katz Memorial Gallery, NIAD Art Center, Richmond, California, 2000.


Layers, Crucible Steel Gallery, San Francisco, 1997.


Gallery Artists, Triangle Gallery, San Francisco, 1991.


Modern Art Council Auction, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1990.

Gallery Artists, Erickson and Elins Gallery, San Francisco, 1989.

Grants:

Artist in Residence, Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, 2014

Art Department Fellowship, University of California at Davis, 2001-2003

Press:

Asher, Lani. “In Case You Missed It, Miranda Putman and Susan Preston”, Art Practical, Shotgun Review, 3.1.


Dalkey, Victoria. “Outdoor Abstractions.” Sacramento Bee. 26 February 2006: Ticket/Art pg. 34.