A celebration of Virginia’s landscapes through collage and travel.
The Middle of Somewhere by Suzanne Stryk. Trinity University Press. pp.256. $27.95
Konstantin Rega: The Middle of Somewhere examines Virginia landscapes. What inspired the book?
Suzanne Stryk: I’ve always been very interested in place—how to explore and “take its pulse.” It intrigued me to travel to different regions in the state. I moved here in the late 1980s from Illinois. Huge differences in landscape and sense of history. The idea originated with Thomas Jefferson’s The Notes on the State of Virginia.
The book is actually a description of the original art project. I didn’t do the traveling until 2011-12. I started to write it after the first exhibit—had my maps and my memories. One thing you get is my sketches which are direct responses and then assemblages which are studio creations. Creating an idea of the place through many individual subjects/items.
What do you want readers to get out of the book and artwork?
First of all, I want them to feel like they’re traveling with a friend. In many ways, it’s a celebration of this state, and I hope people enjoy it. I’ve had a 10-year-old read it and enjoy it, so it seems to reach people on different levels. I want it to be accessible. They’re just all stories really, but there’s subtext in each one.
I look at subjects with the eye of someone who wants both accuracy and metaphor. I’m very involved with what I’m seeing and aware of the history of the place and how I fit into that scene. Also, I talk about glimpsing the layers of a landscape. But it’s always changing, an ongoing process.
It has very many different layers of thought—observation, memory, imagination, drawings, facts. I asked myself, “How would I feel when I was in the place?” When I was there, I let my mind flow between what’s in front of me, delving into childhood memories, and imagining a possible life. About being in the place and not. Putting facts in a historical and personal perspective.
And when did you decide to “become” an artist?
I started art school in the early 70s and wasn’t learning all that much. I went into art history. And went into scientific illustration. But it didn’t satisfy my needs or thinking beyond pure description.
But I wanted to be more responsive, in a fuller way. You illustrate a snapping turtle, but how does this turtle experiences the world. This, the drawing didn’t illustrate.
By the time I moved to Virginia, I realized that what I wanted my art embody was: how we experience nature, not just nature itself. I’m always exploring how we perceive the natural world, in various ways. Seeing how nature and the subject blend.
But there’s still a mystery of the creature that will remain a mystery.
Find a copy at The Bookshop.
