Sue Maida September Artist of the Month

To see Sue's collection click HERE

To see Sue's LIVE video 9/8 click HERE

                                

On September 2019 Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas, decimating the Abaco Islands and surrounding areas.  Photographer Sue Maida was touched by this tragic event. Sue was inspired by a friend, who had lost a house in the Abacos.  Sue’s friend decided to sell her collection of Bahamian sea glass jewelry and donate the proceeds to a relief foundation.  That got Sue thinking of her own sea glass collection and how it might be interesting to see what the lens may capture from the pale glass pieces. Although her sea glass came from a beach in Hampton, Virginia where Sue grew up, there is something universal about the colors and textures of the transformed solid that starts out as sand.  Shooting in the abstract, Sue never knows what will show up until it appears through the lens.  It is always a thrill for her to see what takes shape.  Using sea glass, corn husks and onion skins these images spoke to her of the mystery and beauty of the natural elements in our world. A portion of Sue Maida’s proceeds from the Sea Glass collection will be donated to: Great Guana Cay Foundation, Abaco, Bahamas.

 

                                 

"When I was eight or nine years old, there were two books I was compelled to view over and over. One was a photographic history of World War II; the other was a collection of portraits by the renowned Yousef Karsh. Both volumes sat on a bookshelf in the living room of my next door neighbor, and on many a summer afternoon, seeking refuge from the stifling Virginia heat, I sat turning the pages of both books: one filled with movement, pageantry, chaos and horror; the other with beautifully crafted still portraits of people I had no idea were famous but whom, through the deeply rich black and white images I could sense were important. Looking at these images was hypnotic, and the experience imprinted on me a template for the kind of photographs I strive to create: simple but arresting images that convey a unique perspective; images that invite the viewer to feel, think and wonder - about themselves and the world outside. I look for surprising beauty and mystery in ordinary objects and moments."

Sue Maida

August 27, 2020