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Susan Knight’s art isn’t just something you look at—it’s something you feel.
Her works, whether a swirl of intricately cut paper spirals or an undulating wave of sliced Mylar, capture the fluidity and force of water, transforming any gallery space into a breathing ecosystem. With pieces that encourage viewers to reflect on our collective responsibilities toward water, Knight's fascination runs deeper than mere aesthetics.
“Growing up in Western Michigan, I was always near ponds, lakes, and rivers, but I didn't have a lot of information about the water that surrounded me,” Knight reflected. “As an artist now, I've realized how much I always wanted to know what was going on beneath the surface.”
Knight's career began in advertising and museum work, but it wasn't until she relocated to Houston, Texas, and enrolled at the Glassell School of Art that her true passion unfolded. While creating a memorial piece for a close friend in 2002, Knight took inspiration from the Elkhorn River, a site of personal significance for her friend. Instead of her usual photographic references, Knight cut a map of the river she grew up on, drawing inspiration from an architectural origami exhibition she had seen in New York.
The experience opened up a new world for Knight, who found herself revisiting stories from her childhood spent near the Great Lakes—stories she had never previously explored in her art. "I felt free, so I continued cutting materials,” Knight explained. “There was something about that journey with water that I wanted to keep pursuing."
While Knight’s creative process is rooted in simplicity, it’s incredibly profound in its execution. "I'm as low tech as an artist can get," she smiled. She explores the physics and metaphysics of water through materials like paper, Mylar, and Tyvek. Her primary tool, a humble X-acto knife, cuts intricate patterns until the flowing forms are no longer mere cutouts, but pulse with a life of their own.
“This is my Bible," she said, gesturing toward a well-worn book resting on her studio coffee table—“Sensitive Chaos: The Creation of Flowing Forms in Water and Air" by Theodor Schwenk.
“I can be inspired by just a sentence about water,” she explained, holding up a page. “[This book] is what I refer to when I think about physics and metaphysics, and sometimes it just takes a small sketch, like this one on the hydrology of rivers and channels." That singular sketch became the catalyst for three different series.
Knight’s work is intertwined with her fascination for scientific concepts, inherently tied to the Nebraska landscape where she lives and works. Her collaboration with Dr. Nate Eidem from the University of Nebraska Kearney has helped her grasp geographical ideas, while another collaboration with landscape architect Steven Rodie from the University of Nebraska Omaha enhanced her understanding of garden design.
“I have a total respect for scientists and for the scientific process,” she explained, noting how their methods often influence her artistic practice. “Listening to scientists or reading their research can spark something in my mind—a phrase or a word might explode in my brain and lead to another series.”
Her work also reflects a strong commitment to environmental advocacy. While viewers don’t tend to seek factual information from Knight’s exhibitions, her pieces invite close engagement with their colors and forms, inevitably sparking conversations about water and its vital role in maintaining a healthy environment.
Building on this engagement, Knight's current exhibition, "Braided Water: Interweaving Roots in Deep Time and Space," is on view at the Stuhr Museum in Grand Island until November 17. This installation explores the geology and history of the Platte River region. Knight integrated data and research on the Platte’s water levels over decades, as well as pioneer and migratory bird routes, abstractly interpreting this geological and environmental data.
Even now, Knight feels there is still much to discover and express through her art, finding endless inspiration in the ever-changing narrative of water.
“All I have to do is wake up and read a headline, and there’s something more for me to consider about water,” she said. “It might be the lead pipes in Flint, Michigan, or it might be what is being revealed by water contracting in the Great Salt Lake. There are so many ways to look at water, to think about it, and to have empathy for it.”
People try to understand her fascination with water by asking if she was a sailor or if she spends a lot of time swimming. She laughs and admits, "I'm not a good sailor at all, and I'm actually a very poor swimmer.”
For Knight, water is far more than what you can do with it. She invites viewers to reflect on water's true essence as a force that shapes our world in ways we are only beginning to comprehend.
“Water sustains and shapes existence—it’s both a nurturing presence and a powerful, sometimes destructive force.” In this way, Knight explained, it reflects the full spectrum of the human experience.
“Water is life itself."
For more information, visit susanknightart.com.
This article originally appeared in the October 2024 issue of Omaha Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
