About
The Artist |
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Sue Giannotti is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and is the founder of Mosaic Opus Studio, near St. Louis, Missouri, where she creates original mosaic artworks and architectural commissions. Originally trained in Italy, she uses millennia-tested tools, techniques and materials to create contemporary work.
Simplicity, serenity and strength.... Sue's work is about capturing the essence of the subject, whether that is a person, place, emotion or moment. She distills the image down to the bare essentials and encourages the viewer to become quiet and still, joining her across the work in meditation and introspection. She chooses to work in mosaic for the texture, the play of the light on the surface, and the medium’s ability to look soft and strong at the same time-- a fascinating dichotomy which exists in people as well. Her work has been exhibited and collected in the US and internationally, including France, Italy, Japan and Australia. She has been a visiting artist instructor at The Chicago Mosaic School since 2005 and has juried multiple exhibitions. Sue is a prior Board member of The Society of American Mosaic Artists and during her tenure on the Board, she initiated, organized, and directed the annual SAMA Mosaic Salon Exhibition which continues to be a perennial event. |
The Process |
Hammer, Hardie, and Tesserae
Photo: © 2018 Sue Giannotti
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Tools and Tesserae
To create the art, Sue begins with an intent and then selects the appropriate materials (glass, stone, slate, etc.). She cuts each individual tessera to the shapes and sizes the work requires, using the traditional tools mosaicists have used for millennia -- a mosaic hammer and a metal wedge set in a log (photo). Once cut, the pieces are set into the adhesive bed--one at a time--playing with the visual conversations the pieces--and the spaces in between them--have with each other. She observes, responds to, and controls the angles, heights, spaces, colors, reflectivity and light play on and between the pieces. |