Collection: Susan Jephcott

"I am originally from Hudson and of Scots ancestry. I have been painting and drawing all my life. I got my first set of oils at age 12. My work has gone from highly textured figurative portrait studies to hard-edged symbolism, re-absorbing and personalizing classical techniques and re-directing them into stark storytelling. For me what connects my work is an ongoing battle between primitive human impulses and an unmovable destiny of myth and spirituality that forces the untamed or unwilling to do its bidding. In my world, the spirit always wins and woe to those who choose folly or greed, conflict and arrogance. Sometimes my directness will make the viewer feel uncomfortable with the sometimes political, sometimes grotesque, or sexual images. I am summoning my own fears, dreams, and anger to formulate a commentary on contemporary issues. The act of painting is an incantation to cause something to happen.

Living now out in the country, in Vankleek Hill where Scots first settled I feel very much at home and surrounded by the Celtic myths as I did when as a child in Hudson. Kanehsatake (Oka) was just across the river and as we searched the shores looking for arrowheads and pottery shards, my game warden Father would tell me stories of the Mohawks and the Iroquois nation. Later, living in Jamaica, from my friends I would hear West Indian stories, history, and legends. I am intrigued with the universality of myth and legend."