Artist Statement
I explore duality through the relationship between space and perception. My paintings emerge through a process that balances intention and discovery. I am interested in how an image can appear stable at first, then begin to shift as the viewer spends time with it. Through these perceptual changes, space becomes something fluid rather than fixed.
My background in printmaking continues to inform the way I paint. Printmaking taught me to build images slowly through layers, repetition, and process, allowing individual elements to dissolve into a larger whole. That approach carries into my paintings, where thin washes of color, shadows, and edges accumulate over time, creating surfaces that reveal themselves gradually.
Forms repeat across the surface in mirrored, reversed, and inverted configurations, often shifting in scale and color. Over time, I have returned to a small group of motifs, exploring how they change through repetition and variation. As these layers interact, perception moves between recognition and reinterpretation. What first appears certain may become unstable, making room for different ways of seeing.
Trompe-l’œil plays an important role in my work. I use illusion not to create a convincing fiction, but to question how we understand what we see. Traditionally used in architecture to extend walls and ceilings beyond their physical limits, trompe-l’œil creates a space between the real and the imagined. I am interested in that threshold, where a painted surface can remain present as an object while suggesting something beyond itself.
My experience with site-specific wall drawings and large-scale installations has expanded this investigation. As paintings engage directly with their surroundings, my relationship to them becomes both perceptual and physical. Scale introduces a degree of unpredictability. What begins as a carefully structured process often leads somewhere unexpected. Illusions that extend beyond the edge of the work alter my sense of distance and orientation, bringing a different immediacy to the act of painting.
While my earlier works were largely monochromatic, recent paintings place greater emphasis on color and its ability to shape perception. Thin washes of pigment are built up gradually, allowing color to develop slowly over time. Grounded in complementary relationships, colors shift in response to one another and to the viewer’s position in space. As the body moves, colors appear to change, advance, recede, or reverse. I am interested in creating moments of uncertainty where perception remains open and changeable.
Inter-Inter, 2011–2026
and pumice on canvas
88 × 82 inches
Acrylic
Facing, 2026
Acrylic and pumice on canvas
41 × 39 inches
Bends, 2023
Acrylic and pumice on canvas
66 × 113 inches
Peak, 2017
Acrylic and pumice on canvas
60 × 54 inches
Strata Peaks, 2026
Acrylic and pumice on canvas
56 × 50 inches
Strata, 2021
Acrylic and pumice on canvas
22 × 18 inches
Site Specific Window Installation
Intercession, 2026
94 × 93 inches
Re:Re:Entry, 2026
70 × 56 inches
Acrylic on linen
Interstice I, 2026
Acrylic on linen
63 × 52.5 inches
Interstice II, 2026
Acrylic on linen
63 × 52.5 inches
Blind Fold, 2026
Acrylic pigment on linen
73 × 59 inches
Site Specific Installation: Blank, 2026
Acrylic on wall and floor in corner
Dimensions variable
Recurrence, 2026
pigment on linen
70 × 56 inches
Acrylic
Near Eclipse, 2026
Acrylic pigment on linen
50 × 41 inches
Shifting Measure, 2026
Acrylic pigment on linen
24 × 18 inches
72 × 110 inches
Open Corners, 2023
Acrylic pigment on canvas
, 2020
pigment on linen, shaped canvas
49 × 39 inches
Equals
Acrylic
Form, 2021
Acrylic pigment on linen, shaped canvas
53 × 37 inches
Open
Per se, 2021
Acrylic pigment on linen, shaped canvas
36 × 25 inches
Pleating, 2026
Acrylic on canvas
54 × 44 inches
Shadow Box Table, 2026
Display of various drawings, studies, and collages
6‘ × 3’-3″
Current, 2026
Silkscreen and colored pencil on Twinrocker paper 22 × 18 inches
Edition of 25 + 1AP
Published by Marginal Editions, New York
Incave / Excave, 2019
Acrylic and pumice on canvas 24 × 21 inches
Biography
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, artist Suzanne Song lives and works in New York City. She studied at Clemson University (BFA), the Maryland Institute College of Art, and the Yale School of Art (MFA). She has presented solo exhibitions internationally at Gallery Baton (Seoul, South Korea) and White Cube (London, United Kingdom), and her work has been included in group exhibitions at The Drawing Center, Smack Mellon, and the Hunter College Art Galleries, among others. She has been awarded fellowships from the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Her work is held in notable public and private collections, including the RISD Museum, the Montecito Contemporary Art Collection (MCAC), the Parkseobo Foundation (Seoul), and the KD Collection (Hong Kong).
Curriculum Vitae
Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1974
Lives and works in New York
EDUCATION
2000 Master of Fine Arts, Yale School of Art, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
1997 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2026 Recurrent Measures, Williamsburg Biannual, Brooklyn, New York
2025 Interfold, White Cube, London, United Kingdom
2024 Near Distance, Gallery Baton, Seoul, South Korea
2018 Open Surface, Gallery Baton, Seoul, South Korea
2015 Intervals, Gallery Baton, Seoul, South Korea
2011 Interplay, Doosan Gallery, New York
2007 Replica, Michael Steinberg Fine Art, New York
2003 Plastic Dimensions, Caren Golden Fine Art, New York
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 Against Ornament, Against the Object, Gallery Baton, Seoul, South Korea
2025 Estuary II: Between Calm Tides, Chapter II, Seoul, South Korea
2024 45cm, Chapter II, Seoul, South Korea
2023 Lagrange Point: Suzanne Song and Kim Sang Gyun, Gallery Baton, Seoul, South Korea
2023 Faint Afterglow, Gallery Baton, Seoul, South Korea
2022 Between Texts and Textiles, Bienvenu Steinberg & J, New York
2020 EFAbstract, EFA Project Space, New York
2019 Rock, Paper, Scissors, C24 Gallery, New York
2018 Active Beige, Foley Gallery, New York
2017 Armory Arts Week: EFA Open House, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York
2016 Twenty Sixteen, Smack Mellon Gallery, New York
2015 January, Mixed Greens Gallery, New York
The Search for The Real, DeBuck Gallery, New York
2013 Buzz, Nara Roesler Gallery, Sao Paolo, Brazil
2012 Post- Op, Mixed Greens Gallery, New York
2011 Amanda Gordon Dunn & Suzanne Song, Sabina Lee Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Fourth Estate: New Editions, The Wild Project, New York
2010 Fourth Estate: New Editions, The Re Institute, Millerton, New York
New New York Publishers, Frans Masereel Center, Kasterlee, Belgium
Fourth Estate: Recent Editions, Sharon Arts Exhibition Gallery, New Hampshire
Gimme Shelter, Mixed Greens, New York
Where to from Here, Paik Hae Young Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Smoke & Mirrors / Shadows & Fog, Hunter College Gallery, New York
Fourth Estate Editions: Recent Works, Frederieke Taylor Gallery, New York
2009 Ordinary Days, PKM Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Two Degrees of Separation, Satori Gallery, New York
Fourth Estate Editions, Memorial Hall Gallery, Rhode Island School of Design System: System, St. Cecilia’s RC Church & Convent, Brooklyn, New York
Paik Hae Young Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Reflecting Transformation No Longer Empty, The Caledonia, New York
Fortress to Solitude, 53 Bogart, Brooklyn, New York
Ins & Outs, Satori Gallery, New York
After Image, Petit Morte Studio, New York
2008 Back to the Drawing Board, Michael Steinberg Fine Art, New York
Stones Throw, LA Printmaking Society, Los Angeles, California
The World’s Smallest Art Fair, Anna Kustera Gallery, New York
2007 Emerging Artists Exhibition, Smack Mellon Gallery, Brooklyn, New York New York—Paris, Space World Center Gallery, New York
2006 Site92, Smack Mellon Gallery, Brooklyn, New York
2002 Abstract Tendencies, Fall Selections, The Drawing Center, New York Reconfigure, Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico
2000 MFA Exhibition, Yale School of Art, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
RESIDENCIES / FELLOWSHIPS
2016 The Elizabeth Foundation of the Arts, Fellowship, New York
2009 Fourth Estate Residency, New York
The Elizabeth Foundation of the Arts, Fellowship, New York
2005 Studio Program, Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, New York
HONORS / AWARDS
2008 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow in Painting, New York
2000 Honor Award, George R. Bunker Award, Yale School of Art, New Haven, Connecticut
1998 Second Place, Emerging Artists, Maryland Federation of the Arts, Annapolis
1997 Fine Arts Undergraduate Citation Award, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
RISD Museum, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island
Montecito Contemporary Art Collection (MCAC), California
Parkseobo Foundation, South Korea
KD Collection, Hong Kong
Acknowledgements
The Board of Directors of the Williamsburg Biannual would like to acknowledge our friends and supporters, who helped make Recurrent Measures possible, especially artist Suzanne Song and the team at Gallery Baton; Andy Romer Photography for installation photography and Brad Farwell for object photography; New York Council of Nonprofits and Gwynn V. Jones of Council Services Plus for their expertise on policy and nonprofit administration. In addition, we are grateful to Marginal Editions for the production and donation of portion of sales of Current print edition to benefit our programming.
As we continue our second year, the Williamsburg Biannual is excited to serve New York, its creative community, and the public-at-large meaningfully advancing the arts, public discourse and the cultural life of our city. We look forward to welcoming more visitors, making new friends, presenting thoughtful programming, and strengthening our community! Thank you for your interest. We appreciate your interest and support!
