Born and reared in Albuquerque, Susan Stamm Evans is a third generation New Mexican. She was born in
1952. It was while doing her undergraduate studies at the University of New Mexico that she fell in love with sculpting in clay. After she received her BA in ’75, she moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for her graduate work, receiving her MA in ceramic sculpture in ‘78. Her first solo exhibition was immediately after graduate school. At the time, she became well known for her small, 7” to 10”, delicate porcelains of women in unassuming, yet emotionally charged, poses. The work then, as now, was quiet and introspective.
Evans and her husband Dick, an artist as well, lived in Milwaukee for 15 years. In 1990, they returned to the Southwest, drawn back by the landscape, the light, and their family. Today their home and studios are located in the foothills outside Santa Fe.
In 1995, Evans began making sculptures to be cast in bronze. The medium quickly led to new opportunities for scale and mood. The figures became larger and increasingly fragmented and simplified. She found that sometimes all that was necessary to express the desired emotion was the head and a hint of the body, instead of full figures. Later the focus was narrowed to only a portion of the face, revealing no more than a captured breath or sigh.
The concept of private, yet universal, emotions is at the core of Evans’ work. She depicts subtle gestures to evocatively draw in the viewer, to suggest a narrative. Each piece conveys a feeling of a personal singular moment that is universally familiar.
At that moment of engagement is the overture, offering the latitude for personal interpretation.
Evans’ ambit is figurative. The scale, texture, and focus of the imagery has changed from series to series, but the essence of her work is always an intimate glimpse into simply being human, an expression of quiet moments. After years of creating solitary figures, she now often incorporates two figures. Her oeuvre explores the tender connections, and sometimes the distances, between two people.
Evans has had over 15 One Person Exhibitions and her sculptures have been in over 40 Group and Invitational Exhibitions throughout the country. Exhibition highlights include the Museum of Albuquerque,
New Mexico; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Wustum Museum, Racine, Wisconsin; Tory
Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and the Selby Fleetwood Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her work can be found in permanent public collections in Wisconsin, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma and in private collections in Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Iceland, China, Jordan, and throughout the US. Her sculpture has been featured in over 20 publications, including ArtLA magazine, Santa Fean and Ceramics
Monthly. Six galleries located in the U.S., Canada, and China represent Evans.