“Venus: Studies in Form by Susan Grabel” is an online exhibition that presents 26 artworks, exploring the iconic feminine form as an aging subject. Throughout the canon of Western art, the image of Venus has been transmitted through a filter of idealization as seen in the sculptural compositions of “Venus de Milo” (130-100 BC),“The Capitoline Venus” (4th Century BC) and “Venus de Medici” (1st Century BC). The Venus figure from the Paleolithic era is hardly ever appropriated due to its asymmetrical, faceless, anonymous and droopy form.

“Venus: Studies in Form by Susan Grabel” returns to the topic of this compelling persona while placing a stronger focus on the substance of Venus as a lasting symbol of femininity. Grabel began exploring the theme of aging in an early clay drawing titled “Pregnant Woman” (1970). She returned to the topic in the late 1990s with "Venus Redux” followed by a series of cast-paper sculptures that fragmented the human form, suggesting a reference to sculptural ruins that are seen prominently throughout museums.

After Susan Grabel stepped away from making ceramic sculpture in the late 1990s, she continued to utilize the medium within her cast-paper representations of Venus. A clay sculpture was made first as a relief that was required to create a plaster cast wherein paper pulp was pressed into the mold in order to render the shape and shell of a female torso.  The textures, shape and tone of each figure also reflects the grainy, earth-like qualities that are strongly referential to the weighty substance of raw clay. Beginning with “Earth Venus Clay Relief [EVCR003]” (2002), the Venus figure begins as a three-dimensional torso placed in-the-round for view from various angles. Ultimately this form is flattened by a printing press and transforms the paper shell into a template for collagraphs that evolve into works of collage and prints. The works on view here utilize the visual device of anonymity in order to connect with a large population of observers.