Questions?
Please call 801-585-0556
Meet the Artist Reception
Meet Susan Makov and learn more about her art at Red Butte Garden on Saturday, July 27 from 2-5 PM.
Susan Makov presents “Tree Language”
Coming from New York to teach art at Weber State University in 1977, I have lived in Salt Lake City since 1985. I have focused on painting for the past fifteen years.
As I came from a home where plein air was an ordinary activity, painting was a mirror of our inner world and the fragmented landscape that was becoming the territory we inhabited in our daily lives. It was a mix of a dream world and wish for an ideal place to live in. My paintings are windows into an inner landscape of textures from the natural world, and abstract narratives based on myths and legends.
Being aware of humans’ historic timeline, I recall ancient landscapes of the southwest USA, Great Britain, and China. By reflecting upon historic landscapes, I dream of, and create new ones. They represent a co-mingling imaginary species with natural and man-made elements.
Traditionally the forest has come to represent a place of being lost, exploration, and mystery. Having worked with authors such as Diane Ackerman, Wendel Berry and Ray Bradbury, the content of their work inspired me to address both ecosystems and fantasy within my own work.
Traveling and hiking in the west initiated my work about landscape and nature. Beginning with many photographs about the land, painting with oils has become my sole focus.
The trees speak in an unknown language. The understory is filled with branches, long past their prime. The calligraphic lines of the broken and bent branches speak in paragraphs about their decades of winter winds. The trees are rooted in their location, oblivious to world events, yet also reflect remnants of people who pass through the forest. These paintings celebrate time on earth. One of enchanted forests, and proof of human impact upon the environment.
The “messages” are from the past and present and remind us of what will be missed as we see changes in the natural world. You can feel a sense of magical mirrors of an alternate reality. Closely observe the details as though you are seeing the forests for the first time!
Find more at