Susan Andrews

The Cascade Effect

2024 | MFA Thesis Exhibition

The Cascade Effect

A leaf skeleton morphing halfway through into a salmon. Image courtesy of Susan Andrews — The Gift | Watercolor on stretched paper | 20"x36" | 2024

Salmon swimming upstream, image courtesy of Susan Andrews — Innate Journey | Watercolor on stretched paper | 32"x60" | 2023

brightly colored abstract painting, image courtesy of Susan Andrews — Evolution of Sight | Watercolor | 18"x24" | 2021

brightly colored painting showing the purple impression of a leaf. Image courtesy of Susan Andrews — Nature’s Transparent Truth | Watercolor | 24"x32" | 2024

Brightly colored abstract painting featuring the impression of an evergreen branch. Image courtesy of Susan Andrews — Cost of Infringement | Watercolor | 24"x32" | 2023

Brightly colored abstract painting with organic pine needle-like impressions. Image courtesy of Susan Andrews — Flaring Intrusion | Watercolor | 18"x24" | 2022

Artist Statement

The Cascade Effect examines the changes taking place in Alaska. It communicates my personal perceptions of Alaska’s landscapes, its wildlife, and the interconnection of the complex symbiotic relationships that are the Alaska environment. Small, beautiful, visual indicators of change in plants, trees, and insects often go unnoticed, but nevertheless alter the environment. These changes manifest as impacts to wildlife, their habitats, food sources, migration patterns, and behaviors. My art practice brings awareness to the consequences that are rapidly changing Alaska’s environment.

Through painting, printmaking, and installation, I explore the shapes and forms of Alaska’s waterways, plants, and animals. I visually merge them together to express the contemporary environmental impacts we face and highlight the destructive beauty of a changing climate while communicating its threat to the environment and the wildlife that depend on it.

Gallery Installation Images

Installation image of hanging paper birch trees during Susan Andrews' MFA exhibition The Cascade Effect. Image courtesy of the artist

Cleared, Cut, and Woven. Lithograph, Sekishu paper, and artificial sinew.

Large installation of a waterfall made out of paper spilling over boulders with painting leaves floating on the water. Image courtesy of the artist

Scale of The Fall. Woodcut, kitakata paper, sekishu paper, Japanese starch, watercolor, and artificial sinew.

Title image from Susan Andrews' MFA exhibition, The Cascade Effect, held in the UAF Art Gallery. Image courtesy of the artist

A wide shot of the installation of The Cascade Effect, Susan Andrews' MFA exhibition, in the UAF Art Gallery. Image courtesy of the artist

Installation image of hanging paper birch trees during Susan Andrews' MFA exhibition The Cascade Effect. Image courtesy of the artist

Cleared, Cut, and Woven. Lithograph, Sekishu paper, and artificial sinew.

Detail shot of the waterfall, boulder and leaf/salmon installation of Susan Andrews' MFA exhibition, The Cascade Effect in the UAF Art Gallery. Image courtesy of the artist

Scale of The Fall. Woodcut, kitakata paper, sekishu paper, Japanese starch, watercolor, and artificial sinew.

A tall paper birch tree forest hangs from the ceiling of the UAF Art Gallery during Susan Andrews' MFA exhibition, The Cascade Effect. Image courtesy of the artist

Cleared, Cut, and Woven. Lithograph, Sekishu paper, and artificial sinew.

Framed paintings hang on the wall of the UAF Art Gallery during Susan Andrews' MFA exhibition, The Cascade Effect. Image courtesy of the artist

Framed paintings and paper cut outs of leaf/salmon hybrid images (Beauty of Decay: A Catalyst For Change)hang on the wall of the UAF Art Gallery during Susan Andrews' MFA exhibition, The Cascade Effect. Image courtesy of the artist

Beauty of Decay, a Catalyst for Change. Lithograph on sekishu paper, artificial sinew, willow branch.

A detailed image of one of the paper birch trees installed in The Cascade Effect, Susan Andrews' MFA exhibition in the UAF Art Gallery. Image courtesy of the artist

detail of Cleared, Cut, and Woven. Lithograph, Sekishu paper, and artificial sinew.

Beauty of Decay: A Catalyst For Change - Detailed image of a leaf/salmon hybrid art piece by Susan Andrews in her MFA exhibition The Cascade Effect, image courtesy of the artist

Beauty of Decay, a Catalyst for Change. Lithograph on sekishu paper, artificial sinew, willow branch.

People examine Susan Andrews' paintings in her MFA exhibition The Cascade Effect. Image courtesy of the artist

Scale of The Fall. Woodcut, kitakata paper, sekishu paper, Japanese starch, watercolor, and artificial sinew.

A crowd during the reception of Susan Andrews' MFA exhibition The Cascade Effect in the UAF Art Gallery. Image courtesy of the artist

A black and white dog howls while sitting in front of the paper birch tree forest in Susan Andrews' MFA exhibition The Cascade Effect in the UAF Art Gallery. Image courtesy of the artist

Susan Andrews during her MFA thesis presentation, The Cascade Effect. Image courtesy of the artist

Other Work

polar bear/leaf hybrid watercolor painting by Susan Andrews — Polar Bear Leaf | Watercolor

Puffin/leaf hybrid watercolor painting by Susan Andrews — Puffin Leaf | Watercolor

bright orange spheres in a vibrant blue abstract underwater scene. Watercolor painting by Susan Andrews — Safe Harbor | Watercolor on Stretched Paper

Whale/leaf hybrid watercolor painting by Susan Andrews — Whale Leaf | Watercolor

A vibrant watercolor painting of a puffin swimming by Susan Andrews — Where Have All the Fishes Gone| Watercolor on Stretched Paper

A dog sitting in a chair at a table with a pint of beer and a dog biscuit in front of it. Watercolor by Susan Andrews — Beer & Biscuits | Watercolor

abstract textured collagraph print in shades of reds, purples and yellows. Print by Susan Andrews. — From the Depths | Collagraph

Monochromatic green painting of a raven by Susan Andrews — I am Raven

four-block woodcut print salmon/leaf hybrid by Susan Andrews — Salmon leaf four-block woodcut print | The initial design for installation, Scale of the Fall | 2023

Organic shapes resembling bent birch trees with green canopies. Watercolor painting by Susan Andrews — Pandora's Forest | Watercolor | 12"x14" | 2023

Black and white lithograph print of a salmon/decaying leaf hybrid by Susan Andrews — The initial design for installation, Beauty of Decay, A Catalyst for Change, Lithograph Print | 10"x26"

Salmon/leaf hybrid watercolor painting by Susan Andrews — Salmon Leaf | Watercolor

Dall sheep/leaf hybrid painting by Susan Andrews — Dall Sheep Leaf | Watercolor | 6"x12" | 2023

Moose head/leaf hybrid painting by Susan Andrews — Moose Leaf | Watercolor | 6"x12" | 2023

Puffin swimming, mokulito print by Susan Andrews — Chasing Sandlance | Mokulito Print

Two ravens fight over a pizza crust on a dumpster ledge, watercolor painting by Susan Andrews — The Last Piece | Watercolor

Close up of a set of owl eyes. Watercolor painting by Susan Andrews — The Watcher | Watercolor

Acrylic painting of a raven by Susan Andrews — Valhalla | acrylic on canvas | 36"x42" | 2021

Website

Curriculum Vitae

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Susan Andrews. Image courtesy of the artist

About the Artist

Born in Bryan, Texas and raised in the south, artist Susan Andrews worked as an airbrush artist and a graphic designer most of her life. In 2015, she decided to pursue a formal education in art. Susan received an Associate of Art at Pikes Peak Community College and a Bachelor of Fine Art in Painting at Adams State University. She was accepted to the University of Alaska Fairbanks in the fall of 2020, where she is currently a Master of Fine Art candidate. In May 2024, Susan will receive her MFA in painting and printmaking.

Susan’s passions lie with the natural world. Her current work, The Cascade Effect, investigates the complex relationships between the environment and wildlife. Through abstract representation, she highlights the integral connections between salmon and the environment through motifs of strength, safety, and representations of imminent loss. This love of nature originated in her childhood and was nurtured by her father and the forests of her childhood.

Department of Art

Susan Andrews

The Cascade Effect

2024 | MFA Thesis Exhibition

The Cascade Effect

Artist Statement

Gallery Installation Images

Other Work

Follow for more:

About the Artist

Questions?

CLA Contact Information

UAF College of Liberal Arts

CLA Departments & Programs