Sue Giannotti
Echoes & Silence

June 30 - August 27, 2022
Opening Reception July 1, 5-8 PM

Where do we go to hear ourselves think? How can we remember to be in the moment?
In Echoes & Silence, Sue Giannotti explores locations and situations where being in the present can bring quietude and/or contemplation--places to simply be still, experience life with our senses and remember who we are.

The intimately scaled works in this exhibition invite the viewer to come closer, discover surprises hidden within and to see how the work changes when viewed from different angles and in bright and low lighting. Even in near darkness, the reflection of the pieces shifts to reveal new aspects. 

Her process requires individually hand-cutting pieces of stone and glass and then setting them on one at a time into wet mortar,  composing the visual sounds of the different shapes, materials, and angles as the mortar hardens. This 2,000+year-old technique involves holding the material on a chisel and then striking it with a mosaic hammer to achieve the desired shape and size. The process is not only physical but requires using multiple senses to see, hear, and feel the right place to make each cut. Once cut, she must determine the location, height, and spacing for each piece compared to the adjoining pieces. Both the cutting and placing aspects of this process require focus, so being mentally present is essential.

Her work reflects her need for this mindfulness and she has observed an increasing desire in others for places of presence and reflection.

About the Artist
Sue Giannotti is based near St. Louis, Missouri, but part of her soul resides in Italy.  Born in Illinois, she graduated from Washington University in St. Louis and pursued a different career until life brought her to mosaics. 

She was originally trained in Italy by a Venetian mosaic master, and she uses the same millennia-old materials, tools, and methods to translate the language of mosaic into contemporary work. Sue is an international mosaic juror and her art has been exhibited and collected in the US, Italy, France, and Japan. Her portfolio also includes mosaic commissions for residences as well as liturgical sites in the Midwest and Manhattan.

When she’s not breaking rocks and glass in her studio, Sue she can be found traveling, taking photos, painting, or enjoying time with family and friends--all while trying to remind herself to be present in the moment.

Echoes & Silence will be on exhibit through August 27th in the Ameristar Gallery, the home gallery of the Foundry Art Centre’s studio artists.