Susan Makara, Torpedo Factory Artist of the Year.
The Friends of the Torpedo Factory Art Center named Susan Makara, TFAA artist, as the 2012 Artist of the Year on Feb. 9. Laurie Fields was named runner-up.
In selecting Makara, juror William Schran, assistant dean of fine arts at Northern Virginia Community College, said, “Susan demonstrates a command of the medium with powerful imagery that speaks to the viewer, yet presents a sense of mystery. There is a haunting dream-like quality with the figures, all hidden behind masks. Behind the mask, who is looking at whom?”
Makara’s entry is entitled “Masks.” The series includes 15 works, 10 paintings and five sketches. In Makara’s words, “Masks showcases my strongest and most fantastical work to date. The ideas for the series come from my imagination, visible only in my minds’ eye until I paint them. We all wear masks. Our true feelings and thoughts are not always revealed for others to see. Sometimes we hide the person within.”
Susan Makara holds a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. She served as assistant art director at a Model Secondary School for the Deaf in Washington, D.C., and as art director for the PBS series “Powerhouse.” Her work can be found in the School of Art Museum in Buenos Aires, at the U.S. State Department, in the homes of James Brady and Barbara Bush, and at the Garden Court in Jordan’s Royal Palace.
Laurie Fields' abstract paintings and ceramics are included in the collections of the Vanderbilt family, IBM, General Foods, Westinghouse, Adolpho, Geico, Helmsley-Spear and the Hyatt Regency. More than 50 of her images have been published as posters. She received a BFA from the University of Hartford.
Makara’s winning works will be exhibited in the Target Gallery from July 1 to July 29, 2012. A reception will be held in her honor on July 12 in the Target Gallery, 6 to 8 p.m. The event will be open to the public.