Work samples

  • A-Z.jpg
    A-Z.jpg
    A-Z Machine Stitched Quilt 2020 78 ¾” x 74”
  • Fuck2.jpg
    Fuck2.jpg
    F Pieced Quilt 72 3/4" x 621/2" 2020
  • w.Dashed Down.jpg
    w.Dashed Down.jpg
    Dashed Self-Portrait Rug/ Red Heart acrylic yarn; hand woven/ 2019/ 92 ½” x 17”/ Photo by Dan Meyers
  • 9slice.jpg
    9slice.jpg
    9 hand tufted acrylic yarn rugs Each measures approximately 20 in x 20 in 2020

About Susie

Baltimore City
Susie Brandt is a Baltimore-based visual artist who works across textile and other media to investigate time, utility, color, presence, absence and the myths of landscape and identity. Her artwork recasts lost and found material culture into textile objects, performances, and installations.

Self Portrait Rugs

Human-scale rugs are patterned on tracings of the artist’s body. Each is woven or stitched or hooked using scraps of old woolen clothing and bedding, hobby craft yarn and/or pompoms. Initially inspired by an exhibition of carpets depicting flayed humans seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art these rugs merge the artist with the terrain.

  • Pandemic Arms.jpg
    Pandemic Arms.jpg
    All five arm portraits woven during the pandemic. Each is 7 inches wide. The longest is 30 1/2 inches. They are woven using tracings of the artist's arm. Photo is by Dan Meyers.
  • Arm 1 (HERE).jpeg
    Arm 1 (HERE).jpeg
    Title: Arm 1 (HERE) Date: 2020 Medium: hand woven cotton Dimensions: 31 inches x 7 1/2 inches
  • Arm 2 (FIST).jpeg
    Arm 2 (FIST).jpeg
    Title: Arm 2 (FIST) Date: 2020 Medium: hand woven cotton Dimensions: 29 ½ inches x 7 ¾ inches
  • Arm 3 (VACCINE).jpeg
    Arm 3 (VACCINE).jpeg
    Title: Arm 3 (VACCINE) Date: 2021 Medium: hand woven cotton Dimensions: 30 ¼ inches x 7 ½ inches
  • Arm 4 (LIVE LONG AND PROSPER).jpeg
    Arm 4 (LIVE LONG AND PROSPER).jpeg
    Title: Arm 4 (LIVE LONG AND PROSPER) Date: 2021 Medium: hand woven cotton Dimensions: 29 ¼ inches x 7 ½ inches
  • w.Dashed Down.jpg
    w.Dashed Down.jpg
    Dashed Self-Portrait Rug/ Red Heart acrylic yarn; hand woven/ 2019/ 92 ½” x 17”/ Photo by Dan Meyers
  • w.Roiled.jpg
    w.Roiled.jpg
    Roiled Self-Portrait Rug/ Repurposed wool fabric; hand hooked/ 2019/ 64” x 48”/ Photo Dan Meyers
  • w.Shagged.jpg
    w.Shagged.jpg
    Shagged Self-Portrait Rug/ Repurposed dotted fabric; machine stitched/ 2019/ 84” x 42”/ Photo: Dan Meyers
  • Splayed.jpg
    Splayed.jpg
    Splayed Self Portrait Rug/ Pompoms, felt; hand stitched/ 2018/ 84” x 56”
  • flayed on studio floor.jpg
    flayed on studio floor.jpg
    Flayed Self Portrait Rug/ Repurposed wool fabrics; hand stitched/ 2015/ Approx 6’ x 4’

9 slices

Hand tufted acrylic yarn rugs
Each measures approx 20" x20"
2020
  • 9slice.jpg
    9slice.jpg
    9 hand tufted acrylic yarn rugs. Each rug measures approximately 20 x 20 inches 2020

After Polly Collins

After Polly Collins pays tribute to the Shaker religious community that settled near the site of Albany International Airport in the late 18thcentury. Shakers lived communally and are remembered for their industrious and celibate lives. They are renowned for simple furniture design, light-filled architecture and the invention of the flat broom. The airport is built on their former agricultural fields and some surviving buildings nearby make up the Shaker Heritage Society.
 
After Polly Collinswas inspired by a gift drawing made by Polly Collins (1808-1884), a member of a community in nearby Hancock, Massachusetts. Gift Drawings were made only by particular Shakers who had experienced spiritual revelations. And although the Shakers lived in spare and unadorned clothing and interiors, their gift drawings could be exuberantly colorful and were kept only for occasional private display.
 
This version of the floral wreath from the Polly Collins drawing is rendered in lightweight colorful acrylic beads held together with clear chenille stems. These beaded constructions are based on 19thand 20thcentury beaded flowers made by hobbyists with origins in Europe. The flowers are affixed to a steel armature.
The wreath measures approximately 9 feet in diameter and is suspended in a light well midway down Concourse B at the Albany International Airport through 2022.
  • After Polly Collins.jpg
    After Polly Collins.jpg
    After Polly Collins/ Steel, acrylic beads, floral wire, chenille stems/ Installed 2019/ Concourse B, Albany International Airport, Albany, NY
  • After Polly Collins 1.jpg
    After Polly Collins 1.jpg
    After Polly Collins/ Steel, acrylic beads, floral wire, chenille stems/ Installed 2019/ Concourse B, Albany International Airport, Albany, NY

Value Added

Series of 50 enlarged flags.
  • ValueAdded#3
    ValueAdded#3
    Machine stitched found flag and lace.
  • ValueAdded#20
    ValueAdded#20
    Machine stitched found flag and fabric
  • ValueAdded#1
    ValueAdded#1
    Machine stitched found flag and fabric
  • ValueAdded#13
    ValueAdded#13
    Enlarged American Flag. Machine Stitched
  • ValueAdded#7
    ValueAdded#7
    Machine stitched found flag, fabric, and ribbon
  • ValueAdded#8
    ValueAdded#8
    Machine stitched found flag and trimming
  • ValueAdded#15
    ValueAdded#15
    Machine stitched found flag and fabric
  • ValueAdded#5
    ValueAdded#5
    Machine stitched found flag and fabric
  • ValueAdded#9
    ValueAdded#9
    Machine stitched found flag and fabric
  • Value Added Series
    Value Added Series
    Series of 50 enlarged flags.

Paradise

For this exhibition, a grand cache of Aloha shirts was cast to heaven and revamped into trees of life.
The Paradise series is dedicated to the memory of Peter Marvit.
  • Sifter
    Sifter
    2015 approx. 96 inches x 96 inches Aloha Shirt Bits netted in Safety Orange photo: Dan Meyers
  • Sifter (detail)
    Sifter (detail)
    2015 approx. 96 inches x 96 inches Aloha Shirt Bits netted in Safety Orange photo: Dan Meyers
  • Weeper
    Weeper
    2015 mixed aloha and fringe fabric tarp approximately 110 inches x 75 inches photo: Dan Meyers
  • wdetail_weeper.jpg
    wdetail_weeper.jpg
  • Twister
    Twister
    2015 mixed aloha fabric tarp approximately 110 inches x 75 inches photo: Dan Meyers
  • Twister (detail)
    Twister (detail)
    2015 mixed aloha fabric tarp approximately 110 inches x 75 inches photo: Dan Meyers
  • Blusher
    Blusher
    2015 mixed aloha fabric tarp approximately 110 inches x 75 inches photo: Dan Meyers
  • Blusher (detail)
    Blusher (detail)
    2015 mixed aloha fabric tarp approximately 110 inches x 75 inches photo: Dan Meyers
  • Buster
    Buster
    2015 mixed aloha fabric tarp approximately 110 inches x 75 inches photo: Dan Meyers
  • Buster (detail)
    Buster (detail)
    2015 mixed aloha fabric tarp approximately 110 inches x 75 inches photo: Dan Meyers

Mine

Mine
Wool blankets and fabrics piled  in the corner of a staircase landing.  Affixed to the wall all the way to the ceiling in Albany International Airport, Albany, NY. Commissioned by the Albany International Airport's Art and Culture Program.
  • Mine
    Mine
    Detail looking up. Cut and stacked wool. 170" x 59" x 61" Installation in the observation deck stairwell ? Albany International Airport, Albany, NY
  • Mine
    Mine
    View up stairwell toward observation deck. Cut and stacked wool. 170" x 59" x 61" Installation in the observation deck stairwell ? Albany International Airport, Albany, NY
  • Mine
    Mine
    View up stairwell toward observation deck. Cut and stacked wool. 170" x 59" x 61" Installation in the observation deck stairwell ? Albany International Airport, Albany, NY
  • Mine
    Mine
    view from above Cut and stacked wool. 170" x 59" x 61" Installation in the observation deck stairwell ? Albany International Airport, Albany, NY

Stump Rugs and Postcards

While walking in Baltimore, I discovered the undulating patterns of wood grain left on stumps after trees were sawn down. They seemed to lend themselves to hooked rug designs. The completed hooked rugs - made from thrift store wool clothing and blankets - were returned to the stumps and photos were taken and made into souvenir postcard pictures.
In exhibition, the rugs are displayed scattered on the floor near a rack of post cards showing the rugs on their stumps of origin.
  • Ken Oaks Rd
    Ken Oaks Rd
    Photo of hand-hooked wool rug made into postcard.
  • Belair Rd
    Belair Rd
    Photo of hand hooked wool rug made into postcard.
  • Woodstock Field
    Woodstock Field
    Photo of hand hooked wool rug made into postcard.
  • Druid Park Dr
    Druid Park Dr
    Photo of hand hooked wool rug made into postcard.
  • Kenly Ave
    Kenly Ave
    Photo of hand hooked wool rug made into postcard.
  • Five Stumps
    Five Stumps
    Exhibition at Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, Wilmington DE 2012

I<3CZ

In celebration of Valentines Day, Temple Gallery director, Robert Blackson, commissioned Susie Brandt to create an artwork for the Temple Gallery couch. Brandt’s response, I <3 CZ, is a tribute to the late fiber artist Claire Zeisler. Based in Chicago for much of her life, Zeisler (1903-1991) was internationally known for her draped forms of braided and knotted threads. These “Cousin It” like sculptures are the inspiration for Brandt’s commission. Made from 60 skeins of red Red Heart yarn and linen canvas, Brandt’s commission spilled over the gallery floor in a heartfelt tribute to Claire Zeisler.
  • I heart CZ
    I heart CZ
    I<3CZ 2012 Couch, linen, red heart yarn dimensions variable
  • I heart CZ
    I heart CZ
    I<3CZ 2012 Couch, linen, red heart yarn dimensions variable
  • detail I heart CZ
    detail I heart CZ
    I<3CZ 2012 Couch, linen, red heart yarn dimensions variable

All the Walks

Everyday I was in Baltimore in the year 2010 I took a walk and made a gps recording. These traces have been used to make maps of the city in various media.
  • All the Walks
    All the Walks
    Google Earth view of all the daily walks I made in Baltimore in 2010.
  • All the Walks
    All the Walks
    Everyday I was in Baltimore in the year 2010 I took a walk and made a gps recording. I am using this pattern to make a piece of lace.
  • Baltimore Daily Walks in 2010/Red RickRack
    Baltimore Daily Walks in 2010/Red RickRack
    This work uses the pattern of GPS tracks of walks taken every day I was in Baltimore from January 1 – December 31, 2010. Made in 2012 of Rickrack, thread, machine stitched. It measures aproximately 50 x 38 inches.

Commissions

Projects commissioned for hospitals in Maryland and Michigan.
  • Slice
    Slice
    detail Cut and rolled wool, hand-stitched together 73" x 73" Commission installed at the Mott Children's and Women's Hospitals, University Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan Photo: Dan Meyers
  • Slice
    Slice
    detail Cut and rolled wool, hand-stitched together 73" x 73" Commission installed at the Mott Children's and Women's Hospitals, University Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan Photo: Dan Meyers
  • Dendrochoronoblast
    Dendrochoronoblast
    Installed near the elevators in the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Tower, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD. Dendrochoronoblast was made in 2011 of layered tulle hand stitched on linen. It measures 61” x 71”
  • Dendrochronoblast
    Dendrochronoblast
  • detail Dendrochonoblast
    detail Dendrochonoblast
    detail Dendrochoronoblast 2011 Linen, tulle, hand stitched 61” x 71” Installed near the elevators in the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Tower, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD
  • Seen Scene
    Seen Scene
    Seen Scene 2011 Felt appliqué, hand stitched 36 ½” x 95 ½” Installed in the Children’s Emergency Waiting Room at the Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children's Center, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD