Portfolio
Photo by Rick Wells SUZETTE MOUCHATY
resin, eps foam, acrylic paint, wood, PVC pipe, adhesive, and hardware. 22 ½" x 32 ½" x 54 ½"
by
Photo
Rick Wells
Nudibranch III 2019
Acrylic
by Lillian
Photo
Hoang
Website: suzettemouchaty.com
My artistic practice blends rational scientific thought with the imaginary and subversive of the artistic realm to realize quirky objects that address sociopolitical issues and environmental concerns. Following a career in science, I pursued a degree in fine art. Art feeds an obsessive need I have to somehow make sense of the world around me. Currently, my work is following a thread conceived while the Covid carnival of madness careened through a world in crisisa landscape imbued with ethical relativism, societal impediments, and gendered power symbols. I have been particularly taken by a collection of found medical slidesunsympathetic images of human brains –which are driving some of my art production.
Suzette Mouchaty Artist/Scientist
Video
2022. “The Art/Science Nexus of Climate Change”, November 17. Virtual panel discussion including artists Chris Jordan, Katja Loher, Dan Monceaux, and John G. Reed. Hosted by the O’Kane Gallery and the College of Sciences & Technology, University of HoustonDowntown,Houston,Texas.
https://uhdowntown.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=a666d335-c74f-43448d13-af690106c157
Organizer and moderator.
"How to Talk to a Nudibranch" YouTube: https://youtu.be/s68QRR6HOcs
Selected Exhibitions
2024. “True North”, March 15-December 8. Heights Boulevard Sculpture Project, Heights Boulevard, Houston, Texas.
2023. "Spineless: A Glass Menagerie of Blaschka Marine Invertebrates" October. 19 – March 2, 2025. Mystic Seaport Museum, 75 Greenmanville Ave., Mystic, Connecticut.
2024. "Politics of SEX", January 7-28. G Contemporary Gallery, 223 East 11th Street, Houston, Texas. Curator and exhibitor.
2022. "Collage & Assemblage", December 23-February 15, 2023. The Glassell School of Art, 5150 Montrose Blvd., Houston, Texas.
“How to Talk to a Nudibranch, and Some Other Things Worth Knowing”, Aug. 22-Sept. 1. Science & Technology Building, University of Houston-Downtown, 315 N. Main St., Houston, Texas. Solo Exhibition.
“Reckless Meditations”, July 2-July 30. G Spot Gallery. 223 E 11th St, Houston, Texas. Solo Exhibition.
2021. "The Box" Dec. 4-Jan. 8, 2022. Hooks-Epstein Galleries. 2631 Colquitt St, Houston, Texas.
“Totally Immersed”, November 17. The Lab. Presented by Experiencing Marine Sanctuaries, and ForceofNature.eco. Adelaide, Australia.
2019. Texas Contemporary Art Fair. Oct 10-13. Presented by Anya Tish Gallery. George R. Brown Convention Center, 1001 Avenida De Las Americas, Houston, Texas.
“Nudies in the Cube”, June 14-July 27. Anya Tish Gallery. 4411 Montrose Blvd, Houston, Texas. Solo exhibition. Solo Exhibition
2018. “The Trouble with Toys” November 9-24. Bill’s Junk. 1125 E. 11th St., Houston, Texas. Curator and exhibitor.
Nudibranch II 2019
Acrylic resin, eps foam, acrylic paint, wood, adhesive, and hardware. 69” x 30 ½“ x 51”
Photo by Rick Wells
Suzette Mouchaty Artist/Scientist
Selected Bibliography
Sea Creatures From the Deep, Captured in Glass, Rise at Mystic Seaport by Meredith Mendelsohn. Art & Design. New York Times. Nov. 18, 2023.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/18/arts/design/glass-artisans-mystic-connecticut.html
O’Kane Gallery and College of Sciences &Technology Host Virtual Artists’ Panel Discussion Nov. 17. UHD News online, November14, 2022.
https://news.uhd.edu/okane-gallery-and-college-of-sciences-technology-host-virtual-artists-panel-discus sion-nov-17/
These Beautiful Sculptures Have Something To Say About Climate Change, by Marie Jacinto. UHD News online, August 29, 2022.
https://news.uhd.edu/these-beautiful-sculptures-have-something-to-say-about-climate-change/
Artist muses on ‘Reckless Meditations’ by Molly Glentzer. Houston Chronicle, Online. July 8, 2022. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/lifestyle/article/Artist-muses-on-Reckless-Meditations-17293545.php
Amid Roe Ruling Controversy, a Houston Scientist-Artist Offers a Vivid, Psychedelic Perspective by Chris Becker. Houston City Book, Online, June 29, 2022.
https://www.houstoncitybook.com/suzette-mouchaty/
Texas Contemporary Art Fair 101 — the Best Booths, Collector Picks and Stars to See The Ultimate Guide to Houston's Art Bonanza by Catherine D. Anspon. Paper City, Online, October 10, 2019. https://www.papercitymag.com/arts/texas-contemporary-art-fair-guide-best-booths-art-picks/
Where to Find Your Favorite Artists at This Weekend’s Texas Contemporary by Susie Tommaney. Houston Press, October 7, 2019.
https://www.houstonpress.com/arts/things-to-do-texas-contemporary-at-george-r-brown-convention-cen ter-11363521
Suzette Mouchaty: Nudies in the Cube. Anya Tish Gallery. Editorial Features. Visual Art Source online magazine published by ArtScene, PO Box 2029, Thousand Oaks, CA 91358. July 13, 2019. http://www.visualartsource.com/index.php?page=editorial&pcID=17&aID=5263
Highlights from UH’s 40th Annual Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition by Brandon Zech, Glasstire:Texas Visual Art Online, 14 Apr 2018.
http://glasstire.com/2018/04/14/highlights-from-uhs-40th-annual-master-of-fine-arts-thesis-exhibition/
Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition Now On View at Blaffer Museum by Paul Middendorf. Free Press Houston online, 16 April 2018.
https://www.freepresshouston.com/master-of-fine-arts-thesis-exhibition-now-on-view-at-blaffer-museum /
Facing page: The Monument, 2024. Concrete, metal, pvc, cardboard, adhesive, polystyrene new and reused, fiberglass mesh, stucco, acrylic primer and paint. 13 ft x 5 ft maximum diameter
Nudibranch Series
The nudibranch series is composed of three human-scale sculptures inspired by marine slugs whose continued existence is in jeopardy due to Climate Change. Made from coated hand-carved Styrofoam, the forms are stylized, emphasizing the smooth rounded curves, undulating bodies and sharp color contrasts characteristic of nudibranchs found in coral reefs. Elegant, sensuous, and slightly mysterious, they are like celebrities that dazzle yet remain aloof. Implicit are political implications of the chosen content and sculpting material; nudibranchs are indicators of climate change which is damaging coral reef ecosystems, while Styrofoam sickens and kills marine animals that mistake floating bits for food.
Photo courtesy UH-Downtown
Nudibranch I 2018
Acrylic resin, eps foam, acrylic paint, wood, PVC pipe, adhesive, and hardware.
84" x 60" x 24"
Photo by Rick Wells
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Installation view: Cogito IV 2021, color pencil on paper, 31" x 24 3/4", and Yaw 2021, wood, film, glass, rechargeable light stick, 81" x 3" x 3”.
Photo
Rick Wells
Pandemic Series
This collection of artworks was conceived during the carnival of madness that careened along through a world in crisis. The artworks form a psychic landscape - a circus of ethical relativism, societal impediments, and gendered power symbols. Burning clouds, a roving fuddle…and a raucous flock of vaginal speculums cackling on a fence. A yellow standard warning of deep water. Unsympathetic images of human brains confront fears. These objects and images sit together as poignant, strident, and reckless meditations.
Suzette Mouchaty Artist/Scientist
Photo by Rick Wells
Cogito I 2021, color pencil on paper
31" x 24 3/4“ framed.
Roving Fuddle 2022
Wood, fabric, acrylic paint, metal, glitter, adhesive and plastic casters.
48” x 20” x 16 1/4
Photo by Rick Wells
Proposal sketch for The Monument, 2024.
Cogito III 2020 color pencil on paper. 31" x 24 3/4“ framed.
The Mechanical Drawing 2012. Color pencil and graphite on Bristol paper. 18” x 24"
Schematic of Utility Cart, 2017.
Media
Learning how to create using a new medium increases my capacity as an artist. I loved the variety of media that I experienced as an art student, and I’ve continued to explore different materials and methods in my professional art practice.
Foreground: Philistine Pants 2017. Fabric and found objects on thermoplastic and wire. 40" x 16" x 11" Wall: Lace Up 2018. Polypropylene webbing, plastic tubing, adhesive, tape, and velcro. 9 ft x 2 ft x 5 ft (dimensions variable).
Photo by Rick Wells
Production photos of The Monument, 2024. Concrete, metal, pvc, cardboard, adhesive, polystyrene new and reused, fiberglass mesh, stucco, acrylic primer and paint. 13 ft x 5 ft maximum diameter
Facing page: Painted stucco surface of the finished piece.
Photo by Rick Wells
Suzette Mouchaty Artist/Scientist
Since most of my artworks are constructed around a fragment from the real world, I view my ongoing artistic practice as a constant hunt for that scrap of reality which resonates as a psychological trigger for my creative impulses.
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The Daily Angst 2021
Wood, leather, fur, polyfill, nylon thread, steel bb’s, acrylic shapes, photographic film, gel film, acrylic paint, glitter, adhesive. 9 ¼” x 14 ½” x 6 ¼”
Photo
Rick Wells
Suzette Mouchaty Artist/Scientist
Prototype 2021
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Wood, adhesive, slide film, glass, acrylic, metal jump ring, cotton string, acrylic paint, glitter, light stick with rechargeable battery. 2” x 2 ¼ ” x 16 ¾ ”
Photo
Rick Wells
Photographic film, Plexiglas, adhesive, duct tape, wood, acrylic paint.
12" x 12" x 3/4"
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Hypoxia Slide 6A
Suzette Mouchaty Artist/Scientist
Photo
Rick Wells
Plexiglass box, found metal, metal sculptures, printed images on transparency film.
5.5" x 15.5" x 9"
Jewelry Box 2020
Writing
My artwork comes from a place in my subconscious that fascinates me. I enjoy the intellectual process of finding context and associations of my own artwork as well as that of other artists. Art writing is my vehicle for this process of knowledge formation and discovery.
Photo by Lillian Hoang
The Utility Cart
Utility Cart (2017) is an ironic riff on the curio cabinet, selfcontradictory and studded with small sculptures dark in humor, it parodies contemporary human existence. As an object it is familiar but not easily categorized: hybrid animate pedestal, miniature architectural model, portable construction-zone kiosk, sadist medical cart. The cart is human scale, 5’ 6” tall, and mobile. Both new and recycled materials were used to construct the cabinet portion which was mounted on found metal legs. Brush antennae-like feelers on the front end, casters on the legs, and an air vent on the back help to animate the piece. The boxy form of the cabinet is a reference to contemporary architecture, evoking the typical multi-story townhouse with garage, balcony and loft. The two-storied cabinet has a cantilevered loft with an exterior balcony-type shelf above a small vitrine.
The curiosities contained here address the human condition and a desire to free oneself from physical and psychic constraints. The dull green of the worn metal legs references the institution environment. There is a safety grip handle on one end of the cart, while at the other, above an orange caution light, finger tips of dismembered hands touch. Metal tread plates and bumper guards on the cart’s exterior protect it from physical battering. One clinical white exterior wall is punctured by a 10-inch square window covered with a black rubber-strip curtain. Through this curtain is an interior compartment which contains miniature human body parts; the flayed arm and leg carved in pine are lying on the floor of an eerie room. There is a splash guard at the base of a wall papered in moss green and a coiled plastic oxygen line hangs on the opposite wall which has a slick vinyl surface of faux bone. On a shelf above is a machine sculpture of a human form kept alive by sadistic intervention. Adjacent hangs a found object: a metal utensil sexualized by its thick broad lips. Remotely barbarous medical implements are displayed in the vitrine. Above them, on a shelf is a miniature cosmic shrine titled, Prepare your Journey (2016). On the shelf next to it rests a tiny machine part in its diminutive glass case, like Lenin, Sleeping Beauty, or some specimen as rare and sublime.
Utility Cart 2017
Mixed media sculpture containing nine smaller sculptures, and multiple found objects.
66" x 18 1/2" x 40"
The cantilevered loft compartment is lined with materials having an industrial feel; cold grays, silver aluminum, and transparent plastics. Two small sculptures are housed in this space, a shiny metal assemblage titled Apprehension (2015), and Oracle (2016), which consists of a black assemblage wand and a white ceramic vessel beaded with
Photo by Rick Wells
Another Portable Pedagogical Device 2016. Mixed media kinetic sculpture.
7 1/8" x 12" x 4 3/4"
words. The cheerful torso-face of Apprehension can be glimpsed through the bubble porthole window on one side of the cart. The little figure welcomes with open salad-tong arms, yet on its behind is a giant phallus, erect as a scorpion’s tail.
Objects of resistance are perched on two exterior shelves. Dolly (2017), a psychedelic flounder-like form on wheels is flattened and headless. This mythical creature represents mindless instinct, uncontained and perhaps uncontainable. Equally aloof is the female sexuality symbolized by a
synthetic rubber vagina in the mechanical object titled, Another Portable Pedagogical Device (2016). This small, portable device controls the stimulation of the vagina by mechanical means via a crank handle attached to an internal mechanism, and by verbal commands via a hand-held microphone. Although contained, the vagina resists control: the microphone is non-functional and the vagina remains unsympathetic beneath an impenetrable glass.
Dolly 2017
Wood, paper, porcelain, wheels.
2 3/4" x 4 1/2" x 12 3/4"
Photos by Rick Wells
Suzette Mouchaty
Maria Fernanda Cardoso, Woven Water: Submarine Landscape, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
By Suzette Mouchaty
Art Lies. 2016
Simplicity of form and exquisite choice of materials lend elegance and a psychological edge to Maria Fernando Cardoso’s work, Woven Water: Submarine Landscape, recently on exhibit in the show, “Contingent Beauty,” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. This installation has twenty-six pendent gray mesh forms occupying over 500 square feet of gallery space. Viewed from outside the work, the gently undulating movement of these strange creatures seems frozen in suspended animation. Basket-like forms hanging a few feet off the floor have an eerie cavity that speaks of entrapment, while open, humansized forms glide overhead as graceful and preternatural as a manta ray. Gray walls and soft lighting contribute to a sense of tranquility.
Entering the installation produces a sense of movement caused by shifting perspectives and an awareness of the flutter of line and shadow. An invisible current carries these weightless forms along and for a moment, one may recall the feeling of floating in balmy water. However, this seduction gives way to unease upon the realization that the geometric subunits of these networks are in fact hundreds of dried, gray starfish wired together at the pointed tips of their long slender arms which form regular arrays of polygons outlined in space. The bodies of these fantastic creatures have been dredged up from the ocean floor, killed, dried, and commodified: these have become a work of art, but most are purchased by vacationers who will leave them forgotten in a junk drawer.
Maria Fernanda Cardoso was born in Colombia in 1963 and currently lives and works in Australia. Her work has been included in shows internationally, and she represented Colombia in the 2003 Venice Biennale. Since completing an MFA in Sculpture and
Installation at Yale in 1990, Cardoso has produced artwork from natural materials, often obtained locally. Her early works are of indefinable forms that seem oddly familiar: a floor mattress of lumpy gray, sinuous shapes reminiscent of gigantic intestines, or irregularly shaped, smooth gray clay forms with tender bean sprouts emerging on the surface like a shock of hair left on a freshly shaved head. Cardoso is probably best known for the Cardoso Flea Circus in which she created a miniature circus arena occupied by live cat fleas. In this exhibit, tiny objects are glued to flea bodies so that when the insects walk or jump they appear to be performing circus acts.
Woven Water seems to relate to Cardoso’s early work in being minimalist in form and presentation. The starfish bodies are curious. They’ve been coated with a gray tint resulting in a distancing uniformity. The work was originally designed for a more vertical installation, but a change in venue resulted in a horizontal arrangement of the present installation. This is fortuitous because walking among the forms stimulates both physical and emotional responses. I found the space peaceful, meditative and timeless. The geometries trigger the notion that one could be drifting among the galaxies in outer space, floating among creatures of the deep sea, or suspended among organic molecules within a tiny drop of water. The dead starfish bodies resonate with concerns about environmental degradation. Too often installations feel hackneyed and lack coherence; Cardoso succeeds in producing an environment layered in metaphor, while retaining a simplicity that is poetic.
Cogito III 2020 color pencil on paper. 31" x 24 3/4“ framed.