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NO. 439 | A JWC MEDIA PUBLICATION
FIGURES OF FREEDOM HIGHLAND PARK ARTIST SUSAN BLOCK’S ABSTRACT PAINTINGS ARE DYNAMIC CELEBRATIONS OF LIFE. BY MONICA KASS ROGERS THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
Preparing for the opening of her current exhibition at The Art Center Highland Park, Susan Block was searching for the right words to best describe her paintings. Freedom and transcendence were two good ones. “And then the word transmogrify, popped into my head,” says Block. Unsure of the definition, she grabbed a dictionary. “I was thrilled to find it means: ‘To transform in a surprising or magical manner’.” It’s a perfect description for how painted strokes of color transform into finished works of art both surprising and magical. It’s also a good word for what happens to a viewer standing in a gallery surrounded by Block’s large-scale, vibrant abstracts. The experience is … well, transmogrifying. For Block, expressions of freedom, transcendence and transmogrification have been part of her experience since she was born. Her mother Dorothy Wolf, a talented Highland Park sculptor, “always had a sculpture she was working on right on the kitchen table,” says Block. “She’d give us kids pieces of clay to create with as she worked, and then we’d all just push everything to one side when it was time to eat.” Wolf sculpted from nude models, which gave Block the opportunity to draw from her first life model when she was only 5 or 6. “I didn’t even notice that the person wasn’t Continued on PG 10
Highland Park artist Susan Block is shown with her "Seated Figure with Diagonals" piece. PHOTOGRAPHY BY MONICA KASS ROGERS