A Life Woven in Light and Landscape
Susan Jordan Harlan’s artistic journey is one of remarkable breadth, a testament to the power of observation, adaptation, and a deeply personal connection to the natural world. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1950, her early life was anything but conventional. Before dedicating herself fully to fine art, Harlan embarked on an extraordinary adventure – traveling with a Florida-based circus for nearly a year as a young woman. This formative experience instilled within her a unique perspective, a keen awareness of movement, color, and the ephemeral beauty found in unexpected places. It’s easy to imagine how this immersion in a world of spectacle and transience would later inform her abstract explorations of light and form.
Harlan's formal education spanned several distinguished institutions – the University of Tennessee, the University of Miami, and Hampshire College – providing a solid foundation in artistic principles while simultaneously nurturing her independent spirit. This academic grounding proved crucial as she transitioned into diverse creative roles, initially working as an editorial cartoonist for *USA Today* and then as a courtroom artist for CBS and *The Washington Post*. These experiences honed her ability to distill complex narratives into compelling visual statements, skills that would become central to her later abstract work. The immediacy of capturing fleeting moments in the courtroom, combined with the concise storytelling demanded by cartooning, cultivated a remarkable precision and economy of line and form.
From Reportage to Abstraction: A Shifting Focus
In 1992, Harlan settled in Portland, Oregon, alongside her husband and son, a move that proved pivotal in her artistic development. It was here she began to fully embrace abstraction, though not as an abandonment of representation but rather as a deeper exploration of its essence. She accepted a teaching position within the graduate program at Portland State University, fostering a new generation of artists while continuing to refine her own practice. This period marked a significant shift in focus – from documenting external realities to excavating internal landscapes. While inspired by nature, particularly botanical forms, Harlan doesn’t aim for literal depiction. Instead, she utilizes these elements as source material, meticulously preserving them in glass slides—a personal archive that functions much like a sketchbook for other artists.
Harlan's process is deeply layered and considered. She scans her specimen slides, enlarges the images, creates cutouts from them, and then manipulates these stencils to produce patterns evocative of natural forces – wind, water, sand. The resulting compositions are executed in fused glass paintings, a medium she masterfully employs to capture the inherent luminosity and reflective qualities of light. She describes her work as “recording all my ideas as painted books,” with the glass landscapes and drawn books functioning as an installation representing the temporal whole. This emphasis on process and layering speaks to a broader interest in memory, perception, and the subjective experience of nature.
Recognition and Enduring Legacy
Susan Jordan Harlan’s dedication to her unique artistic vision has garnered significant recognition within the art world. Her work is held in prestigious collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts—a testament to its enduring quality and historical significance. Her paintings are not merely aesthetically pleasing objects; they represent a profound engagement with the complexities of abstraction, nature, and the human condition.
- Influences: While Harlan’s work is distinctly her own, echoes of Abstract Expressionism can be detected in her gestural approach to color and form. The emphasis on light and atmosphere also suggests a connection to Impressionist painters like Monet and Turner.
- Key Themes: The interplay between nature and abstraction, memory and perception, the ephemeral quality of time, and the power of light are central themes in Harlan’s work.
- Technique: Fused glass painting is her primary medium, allowing for layered compositions and a unique luminosity. She also incorporates elements of drawing and collage into her process.
Harlan's career extends beyond the studio; her long tenure as a professor at Portland State University demonstrates a commitment to nurturing artistic talent. Her work continues to inspire and challenge viewers, inviting them to contemplate the beauty and complexity of the world around us—and within us. She stands as a compelling example of an artist who has successfully integrated diverse experiences into a cohesive and deeply personal body of work, leaving an indelible mark on contemporary abstract art.
