Susan York
Susan York (born 1951) is an American artist and educator, primarily known for her reductive cast graphite sculpture. She lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico where the quality of light and expansive emptiness of the high desert landscape provides inspiration. Early life and education. York was born in Newport, Rhode Island. In 1972, she received a BFA in studio arts from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. In 1995, she received an MFA in ceramics from Cranbrook Academy of Art. While in college, York created a body of floor-oriented assemblage work. These flat reductive  works marked transitions between 2D and 3D materials. Career. After graduating from UNM, York continued her art practice in Santa Fe, where she had a studio space at a local Zen Center. In 1982, Yosherk attended an Agnes Martin lecture, where she recalls the impact of Martin's statement: "My paintings are not about what is seen. They are about what is known forever in the mind." This was a pivotal experience and later a mentoring friendship evolved between York and Martin. In 1997, as an artist in residence at the European Ceramic Work Center, in the Netherlands, York began  to experiment with integrating her forms within the rooms of a given space. This led to compositions of stacked fragile porcelain shards positioned next to objects blackened with graphite powder rubbed surfaces. York's sculptures are associated with principles of Minimalism with traces of a repetitive hands-on process.