From painting to sculpting, from a vinyl teddy bear to a ceramic bust of herself, Susanna Austin’s passion for creating is deeply evident in the works of her hands. When I ask her where this love for art and sculpture was born, she shares that when she started her years at Anderson as a painting and drawing major, she had no idea what was in store for her. In her junior year, Susanna enrolled in a required sculpture class that turned her world on its axis. Susanna fell fiercely in love with the art of sculpting and quickly found herself asking, “How do I add this to my life?”

Her favorite form of expression is through conceptual sculpture; digging beneath the surface of what can be seen to what can be learned. Susanna shares that the prime goal of her art is to “foster a sense of understanding and empathy in people who interact with my work, and hope that they come away from my work and be able to apply that to their lives.” Through pieces like “Superiority Complex,” one of Susanna’s works that was accepted into the 99th edition of Ivy Leaves, one can see the thoughtfulness and intricacy that is poured into every aspect of the sculpture. Susanna admits that this is her favorite piece that she has created. “Superiority Complex” features a teddy bear sculpted by vinyl and flooded with sprinkles. This was her first successful conceptual piece that sparked a love for the creation of mixed media in her life.

While her passion for sculpture has just begun, her desire to create has never waned. “I’ve been creating for as long as I can remember,” Susanna expresses. Her artistic abilities trace all the way back to her kindergarten days. Susanna’s mother loves to remind her about the time her teacher called Mrs. Austin to share that Susanna had surpassed all of her classmates with her art. While the other children were still drawing stick figures, Susanna had excelled “way above her level.” Now, Susanna thinks back on that story and laughs, but this story displays how her passion for art and her skills were shaped long before her days at Anderson.

When it comes to her inspiration, Susanna takes to social media to find her muse. Whether by following modern trends —her latest piece being inspired by Anna Delvey’s time on Dancing with the Stars— or by simply gathering ideas from TikTok and conceptualizing how to make them her own, Susanna feeds her creativity through the vast array of artistry available through social media. She loves the way that social media affects people and gives space to artists of all kinds. Once she has found the idea she wants to pursue, she dives into the creative process. Susanna’s process is full of writing and sketches, trying desperately to capture the minutiae of the ideas in her mind onto a page.

As Susanna grew into the artist that she is today, there were many along the way who pushed and inspired her to become better as an artist. Of course, there were the masters that she looked up to; Henri Matisse, a French visual artist, being her greatest source of inspiration and all time favorite artist. Other creators who spoke to her included Takashi Murakami, a Japanese contemporary artist, and Yvette Mayorga, a multidisciplinary artist from Chicago. “I find artists that I can relate to and whose styles are kind of similar. My work is very colorful, and I try to incorporate colors, and I am just automatically drawn to artists who do the same thing.” When Susanna came to Anderson, the person that pushed her to grow the most was Professor Zac Benson. He started as a professor to Susanna as she began her pursuit of sculpture and has since become a dear mentor figure to her.

Learning to accept correction is something that Susanna struggled with when she first came to Anderson, but now she sees the value in others critiquing her work. There is often much to be learned from the perspective of another. To the aspiring artist, Susanna says, “Look at your piece as someone who has never seen your art before. Put yourself in their shoes to understand what they might think about your work— that will help you to be able to accept criticism and embrace it.”

In December 2024, Susanna Austin graduated from Anderson University with not one, but two degrees in art. The first being her original path of a degree in painting and drawing, and the second being a degree for her great love of the creative world, 3D Studies. She is now applying to graduate schools with the hopes of pursuing a master’s degree in sculpture to continue to hone her craft. Susanna would love nothing more than to be a working artist, pursuing conceptual sculpture and other mixed media, but would also love the opportunity to be a professor someday and pass her trade down to the next young artist.

Into the conceptual:ON SUSANNA AUSTIN’S ARTISTRY

Into the conceptual:
ON SUSANNA AUSTIN’S ARTISTRY