Susan kae Grant
This series of shadow portraits is inspired by history and the life stories of suffragists. The work gives voice to a history not taught in most schools and identifies women from diverse geographic locations and backgrounds, their personal stories and contributions.
I began the series by researching historic archives for profile images of suffragists to use as inspiration. The final images consist of digitally painted portraits combined with patterned, shadow backgrounds built and photographed in my Dallas studio. In studying the archival images, I take artistic liberty to determine what I imagine as appropriate hairstyles and clothing for the time period. Next I create a custom-built backdrop of shadows assembled from an assortment of found objects and fabrics specifically chosen to evoke the essence of each suffragist.
My interest in using the shadow as a metaphor for the suffragists is to represent each individual while signifying the universality of the suffrage movement and the paths these women blazed for all of us. The shadow’s lack of specificity allows us to see ourselves in them, as we are they and they are us.
Susan Kae Grant is an inventive and influential artist and educator. Her innovative studio practice and distinct personal vision represent one of the mediums more sustained and recognizable contributions to fabricated photography. She has lectured and exhibited her work throughout the United States, Canada, China, Europe, Australia, British Columbia, Africa, Guatemala, and Japan. Her photographic and book-works are included in the public collections of George Eastman Museum; J. Paul Getty Museum; Smithsonian Special Collections; Minneapolis Institute of Art; Tokyo Photographic Art Museum; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and Victoria and Albert National Art Library.
Books and publications featuring her work include The New York Times LightBox; Diffusion Magazine; Adore Noir; Black + White Photography; PhotoVideoEDU; Smithsonian Magazine; DMagazine; Texas Monthly, Modern Luxury Dallas; and FotoMAGAZIN. Two recent books include The Focal Press Companion to the Constructed Image in Contemporary Photography; and The Elements of Photography (Focal Press) and the forthcoming book, Dreams, Visions, Other Worlds: Interviews with Texas Artists (Texas A&M University Press).
Grant holds an MFA and BS in photography and book arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. From 1981-2017 she served as Head of Photography at Texas Woman's University and named Cornaro Professor of Art Emerita in 2018.
instagram: @susankaegrant
