Artistic Statement

I am an urban folk artist whose contemporary images reside outside of the classically traditional conventions.  My paintings deliberately use a kaleidoscope of bright colors to center black joy and exhilaration.

In each painting, patterns, shapes and colors mix to display warmth, rhythm and whimsicality.  Fluorescents swirl around figures, commanding attention and visibility. My painted characters are unabashedly present and imperfect, sometimes staring, with seemingly blank expressions, directly at the observer.  However, the funk and soul cannot be contained, so bodies and hair explode with exuberant energy.

A Susan Ragland work of art should always emit light and a zest for life.

Welcome into my artistic realm…

(Self-portrait circa 1995)