Susan Graham, Toile Wallpaper Landscape at Lux Art Institute, 2012. ceramic, flowers, sugar.
As a young girl, Susan Graham thought everyone graduating high school went to work for General Motors. It seemed to be a tradition in her hometown of Dayton Ohio. True to this theme, Graham did grow up to work on General Motors cars, just smaller and more artistic versions. In Beautiful Ohio, she created a tiny highway that merged the Ohio auto industry with sugared mastery.
Known for her work that blends the rugged masculinity of General Motors cars with the graceful beauty of white porcelain, Graham challenges traditional gender roles and stereotypes. The artistic style of almost a lace-like pattern, turning General Motors Cars, often a symbol of sturdiness, grime, and gasoline into ethereal objects.
When Graham found herself at the Lux Art Institute residency studio without a kiln, she had to use some clever ideas to still retain that white ethereal piping look of her porcelain sculptures. Her Solution? White piped icing! Here, in a playful twist—Graham was using a material often associated with the kitchen and baking to create intricate cars designed to imitate those made by General Motors.
Piping sugar became a sweet medium that continued the lacelike pattern, but with it came an assortment of challenges. None of the pieces could get wet, and touching them could make them crumble. Just like the mummy shrouds that melted in the heat of Egyptian tombs; these masterpieces that took hours could disappear into dust. In this way, Graham added another layer of complexity to her work—the fragility of these sculptures reflected the tension between the tough, durable image of industrial machinery and the delicate, fleeting nature of Graham’s materials.
Susan Graham, Beautiful Ohio at Lux Art Institute, 2012, Glazed porcelain vehicles, 15 x 7.5 feet
Susan Graham, Beautiful Ohio at Lux Art Institute, Glazed porcelain, 2012
Susan Graham, Beautiful Ohio at Lux Art Institute, Glazed porcelain vehicles, 2012
Susan Graham, Beautiful Ohio at Lux Art Institute, Glazed porcelain, 2012
Susan Graham, Beautiful Ohio at Lux Art Institute, Glazed porcelain, 2012
Susan Graham, Beautiful Ohio at Lux Art Institute, Glazed porcelain, 2012
In addition to her car collection, “Beautiful Ohio”, Susan Graham also made a group of guns made of sugar and water titled, “My Dad’s Gun Collection”, which replicated her father’s favorite firearms. A three-dimensional model of toile landscape wallpaper completed the group. Each captured the paradox of a delicate natural material, sugar—with industry, electricity, and synthetics. Graham’s wall decora had cellphone towers and electric equipment housing, forming a landscape often seen as new and intrusive into something filled with the style and beauty of a pastoral countryside.
Whether it's a sugar-infused car or a magical porcelain landscape—Graham turns everyday objects into something far more playful. She gives us permission to laugh, to question, and to embrace the unexpected connections between sweetness and steel, fragility and fortitude. And really, who wouldn't want to see a sugar-powered mechanical landscape or take a closer look at a muscle car made of sugar? In Graham’s world, even the toughest things have a delicate side.
Image Bibliography
Graham, Susan. Beautiful Ohio at Lux Art Institute, 2012, Glazed porcelain vehicles, 15 x 7.5 feet. http://susangrahamart.com/LUX7.html.
Graham, Susan. Beautiful Ohio at Lux Art Institute, 2012, Glazed porcelain vehicles, 15 x 7.5 feet. http://susangrahamart.com/LUX9.html.
Graham, Susan. Toile Wallpaper Landscape at Lux Art Institute, 2012. ceramic, flowers, sugar. http://susangrahamart.com/LUX1.html.