Promontory Curated: Susan Swartz’s Living Canvases
Blending Art and Ecology, Swartz Captures the Soul of Utah’s Wilderness
Living Wall 14, 2025, Acyrlic & mixed media on linen, 36 x 60 in.
Edition 01: May, 2025
Swartz in her Park City studio
Drawing inspiration from mountain views in the Wasatch Back, Susan Swartz transforms Utah’s breathtaking landscapes into timeless memories on the canvas. Swartz started her career in figurative realism, renowned for depictions of Aspen trees and seascapes which landed her as the Official Olympic Environmental Artist for the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games. Her outlook on life and art changed dramatically after undergoing a decade-long battle with Lyme disease and Mercury poisoning. Embracing how the experience impacted her, her canvases also evolved, and Swartz continues to paint the joys found in nature.
“Nature is what sustains us,” states Swartz. With each abstract painting, she brings the outside experience into the home. Her paintings source colors, movement, and texture from the peaceful mountain slopes and abundant wildflower patches. Her most recent series incorporates real botanical elements protruding from the canvas as if their potency cannot be conveyed enough in the two-dimensional realm. The unique fusion not only enhances the textural depth but also underscores the profound connection we have with nature.
Installation at Susan Swartz Studios featuring Breaking Away 101, 102, 106, and Nature’s Bouquet 83.
Swartz’s latest “Sunflowers” series exemplifies this novel approach and her deep ties to the Utah landscape as the thriving native herb is embedded within the acrylic canvas. Swartz describes: “My hope is to convey the important impact nature can have on us. When we take care of nature, it will take care of us and future generations to come.”
Swartz now boasts an internationally renowned exhibition and collection record with recent shows at the 60th Venice Biennale and at Georges Bergès Gallery in New York City this past year. Donald Kuspit, Art Critic and Curator affirms, “Susan Swartz is the best abstract painter of nature alive today.” Despite her international acclaim, Swartz continues to stay grounded, painting from the studio nestled in her Park City home.
Susan Swartz is represented by Georges Bergès Gallery located at 462 West Broadway, New York City. Visit bergesgallery.com.
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