Contact Information:

email: Suzanne Stryk
website: www.suzannestryk.com

Artist Statement:

One day while painting a stag beetle, I caught myself doodling some chromosomes in the suggestive stains on the surrounding paper; it fascinated me that while eye-to-eye with a creature I was simultaneously aware of the invisible genetic codes coiling in its cells. It was as if I’d merged an old artist-naturalist’s sensibility with a contemporary awareness of genetics, and this was the beginning of Genomes and Daily Observations, a series of works on paper. Each drawing begins when I respond spontaneously to a discovery made outside—insect, snake, bird, or turtle—whatever crosses my path. Along with the creatures, somewhere in each drawing the DNA double helix, chromosomes, cellular organelles, or A-T-G-C genomic sequence emerge. My hope is that the work suggests questions, such as: how has the knowledge of genetics altered our perception of the natural world? How do we reconcile personal reverence for life with scientific information… and does the mapping of the genome unravel mysteries or actually create more?

Application | Previous Recipients | George Sugarman Artworks | About the Foundation