This new series of paintings continues my ongoing exploration of color and the perception of color. Drawing inspiration from sacred geometric forms—particularly the mandala—I have been looking closely at the square, a recurring element in sacred geometry that functions as a protective boundary, stabilizing and containing energy.
My work investigates interconnectivity and the fluid nature of perception. I am interested in the creative potential that emerges through trusting the artistic process, allowing the work to move beyond the knowable and the predetermined.
These compositions also reflect the elusive moment when a thought begins to cohere—the subtle, ongoing internal process of clarifying, testing, and reforming ideas before they fully emerge into consciousness.
Rather than illustrating a fixed state, the paintings inhabit that threshold where perception, intuition, and thought remain in motion. I am beholden to color: color as material, color as subject, color as experience.
The artist Bridget Riley expresses this beautifully: “Color turns out to be a perfect vehicle for me, because it is made up of harmonies as well as contrasts and though unstable and fugitive, it also comes through a powerful presence in its own right.”
I am interested in the coexistence of structure and ambiguity, creating shifting spaces where forms, moments, and memories continually dissolve and reform. I think of each painting as a temporal landscape—a repository of accumulated experience, perception, and time, where the visible image and the evolving life of thought intersect.
Color is both the subject and material of Susan Dory's acrylic paintings. The Seattle-based artist brings her luminous, perception-driven abstractions to Fringe for the first time for a solo exhibition, on view from August 6 - 30, 2026. With over 25 years of acclaimed practice and work held in collections worldwide, Dory's debut at Fringe marks an exciting new chapter in our program.
Please join us for the opening reception on Thursday, August 6th, from 5 - 7pm. The artist will be present, and refreshments will be served.
