Susan Dibble Artist Statement

I have always wondered why it is that spoken language is so daunting to me at times, and over the years I’ve had to train myself to be more comfortable with it.  Actually, I appreciate the challenge to be eloquent, or at least articulate, when expressing my thoughts and feelings. I grew up surrounded by sensations and activities that in a way interested me more than talking. As a choreographer I have had the privilege and freedom to fill spaces with people who can be colorful, dynamic, passionate, funny, and, in their movement and placement, serve to tell the tragic and joyous story of life. 

When I paint, these people, places, objects, furniture, animals, landscapes, water and flowers all become my friends, and provide me with a link to language that is often very satisfying. My eye is drawn to movement and groupings, lines and shapes, and how bodies take up space and fill the arena with action and meaning. Painting provides me with the opportunity to fill the space of a canvas. As a visual artist (choreographer and painter) I see the world inside and outside, and yet the world of the unknown takes charge and I am propelled into the mystery of imagination and new stories and images that are revealed to me when I put brush to paper or start a dance with a dancer in an open space.

I am drawn to the surprise, the unpredictable things that happen when I begin to paint, when the paper becomes the stage space and what I put on the paper is simply another dance, another way to say something that can’t be said in words. I remain curious about this and admire those for whom words come easily.  I am grateful for the freedom to speak on paper in this way.