This series represents a salvage operation. I retrieve something of value out of detritus and man-made cast-offs that would otherwise be lost or abandoned. It's an effort to generate coherence and harmony in a dissonant, fragile, and precarious world, rendered more so as I contend with an autoimmune condition that has threatened my mobility.

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Hunting for things to capture in neglected or beat-up spaces, I often haul items to new sites or back to my studio to work with them sculpturally and again photographically. My subjects are "readymades" with occasional interventions. 

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The sculptures I create in my studio communicate obliquely and directly with what draws my attention to the outside world. They are vulnerable and alone, standing up tall, already collapsed, or somewhere in between, embodying what I was going through when I didn't know if I would lose the use of my limbs. 

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I delight in making and connecting images that speak to each other through shape, colour, line, texture, gesture, attitude and atmosphere, often playing with scale to emphasize or distort these relationships. 

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While the objects themselves may carry a sense of loss, loneliness and abandonment, these connections feel playful and uplifting to me. I hope this work speaks to viewers about their own physical or emotional challenges, about all our human frailty, and the question of what we can salvage from our experiences.

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About

Sue Palmer Stone is a native of Connecticut, with her workspace being mostly in New England, California and her studio. After earlier careers in business and education and raising two children, she has focused on photography for the past fifteen years. Her work often incorporates found objects, sculptural components, and the themes of imperfection, impermanence and human frailty. Her photographs have been in several group exhibits around the US and have received recognition in numerous publications.

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