Lost and found... in the "bubbles"

It only took me a glance around the prints on the board to figure out which piece belonged to Susana. The circle pattern that "filters" the image was the first thing that reminded me of Susana's past work. I was not sure what to make of the piece when looking at it for the first time, and only after actively looking at the print for a long period of time was I able to begin to make some assumptions about the context.

The first thing my eye is drawn to is the three doll-like faces, that I can't help but feel are somewhat creepy. Upon further investigation, I see that there is another face that resembles the other three, and I can make out a body and it appears to be a female that is wearing a dress. My eyes seem to pull back from time to time, and I notice this black filter, that has circular openings where the image is allowed to be seen, and is highlighted by contrast. In describing the other 3 figures/heads is where I begin to run into some confusion. The figure in the middle appears to have another image over top of it however it is unclear what that image is. The other two faces seem much darker, both literally and metaphorically, and the lower face seems to have a hand around it's throat. These elements come together to cause confusion and the work seems to express a psychological feeling, like dogs, or could be commenting on a relationship.

For me this work feels a lot like a dream, or more specifically a nightmare. These three figures seem to be lost behind this black filter, and are layered over each other. They are layered in a way that makes them appear as they are hurting each other, and the faces on the left look deformed, like they may have been abused. The hand on the throat is what makes me believe that this is some comment on abuse, and the figures are childlike so this makes me think it may be a case of child abuse. The black filter seems to be this mental "block" that appears in different forms throughout Suzanna's work. This seems to represent what most memories are like, in that you can only remember pieces of the event, and the rest seems to be blocked-out. I have wondered before about this phenomenon of forgetting parts of a memory, and why we block out certain things, and remember other things; and also I have wondered why I tend to not remember bad memories as clearly as the good ones. Is this because we subconsciously want to forget these bad events, over time? Or is it something in our brains, that when the event takes place, does not allow us to remember to our full potential?

These are questions that I have asked myself from time to time, and I guess worry me. I do not like to forget things, and I especially do not want to forget the bad. Forgetting the bad, could lead to a recurrence of the situation. This was extremely successful helping me think deeply about these questions I often ask myself. While I am not sure that I completely understand the full intentions of the work, I can attempt to theorize its meaning by putting it into the contexts of my own crazy life/mind.


P.S. So So Sorry I spelled you name wrong the first time, Susana !! For what it is worth, the way you spell it is much better than the way I attempted to !