FEATURED ARTIST EXHIBIT
EXHIBIT DATES: August 1— 25, 2024
Opening Reception: Friday, August 2 I 5 – 7 pm
Working predominantly with mixed media Susan St. John Gliner has focused her paintings on the motivation to survive and thrive despite social obstacles, to bear witness to sadness and triumphs, failures and successes. St. John Gliner, originally from the East Coast, resides in the Santa Cruz Mountains, is known primarily for her realist images of swimmers submerged in the struggles of daily life as well as real life challenges of musicians, with whom she is familiar with as a fellow vocalist. St. John Gliner has taken her inspiration from San Francisco Bay Area artists Erin Goodwin-Guerrero, Sam Richardson, and Rupert Garcia, with whom she studied at San Jose State University. She has also drawn influence from studying in Mexico City with artist and friend Olivia Togno. Her work can be found in a permanent exhibition at the Corralitos Cultural Center, periodically at the Santa Cruz Art League, the Santa Cruz Mountains Art Center, as well as in the homes of many Bay Area residents.
Susan St. John Gliner’s art has drawn primary influence from her travel to parts of the world where many people face significant economic, social and political challenges. In Viet Nam, when she and her husband were among the few Americans in the country after a devastating war, she saw a thriving resurgence as the country sought to rapidly rebuild and prosper. On a trip to East Africa she regularly witnessed hundreds of people standing all day beside dirt roads trying to sell one piece of clothing to get something to eat. In the Middle East, she witnessed Palestinians being thrown out of their homes in the old city section of Jerusalem while small groups of Israelis and Palestinians protested these actions nearby. While in El Salvador she became aware of whole communities being caught in cross fires between rival gangs. Despite these struggles, she saw a resilience, a desire to keep going, to survive, which she strives through her paintings to convey to a larger public.
Susan St. John Gliner’s focus on the human condition has been reinforced by many years working in Santa Cruz County Government where she saw the many challenges local residents faced, the many problems they sought to overcome, how they coped and how they succeeded or failed. Like the people she observed and met on her travels abroad, she witnessed the same resilience, which reinforced her desire to capture in her paintings.
Learning From The 30s
Though many of us today think things are getting worse – unable to afford the rising cost of food, find affordable housing, or stressed out because of a nagging sense that our lives are not what we hoped they might be – most people in America in the 1930s depression era probably had it worse. The stock market collapse of 1929 reverberated across all sections of the economy and even though most families did not own stock, their jobs were directly impacted. In spite of these challenges it was also a very creative period for music, the arts and how people used their leisure time.
The advent of mass public transportation made it possible for many city dwellers, many of whom were immigrants and second generation Americans living along the Boston to New York corridor, to find shelter from oppressive heat waves by spending a day at the beach. They didn’t go necessarily to swim, but rather just to put their feet in the water and cool off, taking breaks to nibble on the non-perishable lunches of salami and cheese they had brought along, but above all to experience moments where families could find satisfaction in just being together in the quiet reflections of beach and ocean lapping at their feet, enabling them to temporarily forget their circumstances.
During the depression, people of color faced the double challenge of economic hardship and discrimination. Yet, despite bad times, they found ways to cope leaving lasting impacts that still resonate today. Within the Black community it was a music renaissance era with jazz and new dances such as the Lindy Hop permeating music halls where many people found solace, energy, and excitement despite their challenging life circumstances.
This series of paintings is inspired from family and friend’s stories I heard growing up sitting around the dining table listening to people talk about what it was like in the thirties. These conversations provided context, motivating me to illustrate how the struggles and challenges people faced then and how they coped might compare with the struggles we face today.
Click on the first image to take a virtual tour through the exhibit. By clicking on an image, you will find its title and price listed below the image. Purchase artwork from this exhibit in our online shop.
