Sue Ravitz

Jellybellies, 2015, silk and wool thread on canvas, 24 x 24 inches

About the Work

I grew up a small town girl, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. For generations the women in my family did crafts. I always had projects going, but I was never exposed to any formal artwork. When I had my family, in Chicago, I continued to do handwork. I began seriously exploring color relationships after our kids left home. I spent hours every day knitting small blocks of color patterns, spreading them out on the floor, and considering how they related to each other. At the same time my husband and I had been collecting art for many years.  We transitioned from loud neo-expressionist things to more reductive, primarily monochrome paintings–all surface and color–to abstract work that focused on surface, drawing, and color relationships. We moved to New York about nine years ago.I was surrounded by more stimulation. I began making rugs and thinking about pattern work, but my main focus was still color interaction. My needlepoints began as simple pattern explorations, and I’ve been working on loosening up

Curvaceous, 2017, silk and wool thread on canvas, 20.5 x 21.75 inches

About the Artist

In 2013 Ravitz had a one-person show at Mondo Cane in New York City that included three rugs, all the same pattern and colors, each made in a different technique with different material, and three paint-by-numbers of the rugs. In 2016, she was in a group show at Minus Space. Sue also directs and curates the program at 57W57ARTS.