Suzanne Revy

Suzanne Revy’s works on view this month at Aspect Initiative are from the series I Could Not Prove the Years Had Feet—a balance of interior and exterior views—her sons in quiet contemplation, and landscapes rendered in remnants and shadows.  In this work Revy continues to document daily life with her children, although she notes that as they have become teenagers they have disappeared into the recesses of their rooms, altering the accessibility found in earlier works.  As her works move from the openness of the outdoors to the privacy of the domestic, one gets the sense of space narrowing, with the subjects reflecting a pent-up energy in response.  They may be still and contemplative in these images, but there is an implied straining to move beyond, a sentiment familiar to anyone recalling their teenage years.

Across series, Revy’s work grows and moves with her subjects.  These images embrace elements of the natural world while Revy looks more intensely at her sons’ interior lives. There is weight to the images, and restlessness, capturing the idea that the boys are caught in the liminal space between childhood and adulthood.  In beautiful pairings, fallen branches echo shadows across a torso, and the curve of an arm mirrors the ripple of a sheet.  Shadows and windows are integral to the works, letting light through, as well as obscuring vision.  Sometimes we cannot escape the feeling that we are just passing through spaces; Revy’s work suspends these fleeting moments.

- Jessica Roscio, Curator, Danforth Art Museum, contributor to the Initiative