ABOUT THE ARTIST

BIOGraphy

Susan Budge (b. 1959) is an American sculptor working in clay and bronze with influences from Biomorphism and Surrealism. Budge holds a BFA from Texas Tech University, MA from University of Houston Clear Lake, MFA from University of Texas at San Antonio.

Budge’s work is in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian, the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, the Fuller Craft Museum, the San Antonio Museum of Art, the San Angelo Museum of Art, the Art Museum at Northern Arizona State University, the Art Museum of South Texas, the New Orleans Museum of Art. Her work has been in hundreds of exhibitions and is in private collections in the United Kingdom, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Greece, the United States, and Mexico.

Budge has received numerous public commissions, residencies, and awards, including, Artist of the Year for the Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts in 2004, and finalist for Texas State Artist for the Texas Legislature and Texas Commission for the Arts in 2018.

Her teaching career began with Artist in Education Grants from the Texas Commission on the Arts in 1988. She was the Department Head of Ceramics at San Antonio College as a tenured professor. Prior to her 2015 retirement, she earned a NISOD excellence in teaching award and established an endowed ceramics scholarship fund. Budge maintains an active studio practice at her rural studio near Houston.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Touching clay for the first time was my epiphany. The physical, sensual, direct qualities of this material have challenged me for over forty years. I prefer to work spontaneously in the studio in order to allow subconscious thoughts to surface. As a result, the works reveal issues at various stages of life, reflecting the concerns of the time. Works containing an eye began as a nod to the “All Seeing” and reappeared following the birth of my only son. His constant gaze reminded me to “be good”, to set a good example. The eyes also reflect the notion of Kandinsky that: “Everything has a secret soul, which is silent more often than it speaks.” The cut forms incorporate a technique that is challenging and meditative. In my work I enjoy the use of paradox: balancing fragility and strength through technique and material.