During the weekdays from mid-May to mid-June between our weekend events, we welcome solo artists into the Barn for an opportunity to work in the historic space. Artists share their experiences at Open Studios on the final night of their stay.

Born and raised first in urban, industrial New Jersey as a child, then in a small New Hampshire town, Susan Mikula now divides her time between rural Western Massachusetts and New York City. Her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States, including in New York, San Francisco, Miami and Los Angeles. In 2017 she will be delivering site-specific works for the U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, commissioned by and for the Art in Embassies program.

“My work is narrative, though not with a linear beginning, middle and end structure. Just as my style is figurative, though not literal, which gets me closer to the essence of things. Conveying beauty as I see and understand it is also an important part of my work, though not everyone agrees with what I find beautiful. My ideas sometimes form around an object or a scene and work their way out from there, but more often it starts with a concept that I want to explore, an exploration that I want to share, a feeling that I want to express. From conception through visualization to final selection, it’s a form of distillation, a slow process, to find that which is necessary.”

Mikula shoots exclusively with instant films in a variety of cameras, many of them vintage Polaroids using past-expiration Polaroid films. Working only with available light, and without cropping or image manipulation, her technique strips away detail and softens edges to better reveal the underlying and essential form and feeling of her subject.