ABOUT "IRISH POSTCARDS"

Susan Gorsen's "Irish Postcards" series marks a dramatic turning point in Ms. Gorsen's career. Instead of the expected color rich abstract figure ground essays, this new work is entirely rooted in photographic realism. These are oil pastel drawings covering digitally enlarged photographs taken by the artist over the past 6 years while on extended trips to Ireland. The images show  Ireland through the eyes of someone long captivated by the country's unique charm. As before, Ms. Gorsen uses an overlay of color as the key ingredient to heighten the emotional components of memory in her work. For the most part these are romantic pictures where time seems suspended as a nonessential factor and the specifics of place are supplemented by the mystical quality of mists and myths.

Ms. Gorsen has stated "As an artist I do two things when I am fortunate enough to actually spend time in Ireland  -  I take photographs and I write. One accurately records the reality of present tense time and place. The other captures my intuitive emotional responses which transcend mere experience. This new body of work is no less personal than the previous abstractions. The images in this exhibition are memory scraps from several Irish summers. If art is born of the spirit rather than the mind then I can only say that, for me, the source of both remains rooted in Ireland."

There is no adequate explanation for why a person is mesmerized by a particular place. There is no genealogical connection tugging at Ms. Gorsen's heartstrings. But since first spending a month walking through Ireland in 1968, she has recognized this small island as the home of her spirit just as Kentucky is the home where she actually lives. "Irish Postcards" might not be the best name for this series; a more appropriate title might well be "Irish Love Letters".

The poem "The Prodigal" was written in 2000, a day after returning to Kentucky after spending 6 weeks in Ireland. Probably more than anything else it expresses her deeply felt connection with  Ireland.