Susan Ottaviano, "Ribbed Venus"
ceramics
3 x 5.5”
2022
Susan’s ceramics are inspired by food, femininity and sexuality. Her influences include ancient art, nature and abstract expressionism.
She has a keen eye for shape, color and layering surfaces and textures. She is focused on the process of hand building and the joy of manipulating clay to realize her vision.
STATEMENT
Hunger, Food, and the Female Gaze
In cultures around the world, women are discouraged from exhibiting a love of food. Men are celebrated for their expansive appetites, but for women, the sensual thrill of eating for pleasure is taboo. And yet, women are disproportionately responsible for the labor of growing and preparing the food that nurtures the family.
I am fascinated by the tension in this paradox, especially at the intersection of art and commerce. Sardine tins, no bigger than a jewel box and so easy to overlook, often combine depictions of day-to-day homemaking with idealized and even sexualized images of women. Elaborate and beautiful, they are a particular source of inspiration.
My work—which calls back to traditional gender roles, folklore, and the paintings of the Dutch Masters—explores images of women and food in advertising and pop culture, with an eye to humor, melancholy, the body, and pleasure. We are hungry!
BIO
Artist, performer, songwriter.
Her evocative artwork, which explores food, femininity, and sexuality, has been featured in numerous gallery shows. She is excited to exhibit her ceramics for the first time in this Spring 2023 show “EAT ME!” at Collar Works.
Susan created all the lush and whimsical paintings for the book: The Green Witch’s Guide to Magical Plants & Flowers: Love Spells from Apples to Zinnias (June 2023, Skyhorse Publishing). She also developed the vegan recipes featured in the book.
Susan has been a groundbreaking food stylist and recipe developer for over twenty years. Her work has been featured in magazines, cookbooks, and advertisements from Bon Appétit to Grey Goose to Uber Eats.
Best known as the lead singer for pop band Book of Love, Susan and her bandmates recorded five albums for Warner Brothers Records/Sire Records. The group reunited in 2016 for a sold-out world tour to mark their 30th Anniversary.
She earned a BFA in Painting from The Philadelphia College of Art, and has been awarded post-graduate certificates from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park and the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City.
ceramics
3 x 5.5”
2022
Susan’s ceramics are inspired by food, femininity and sexuality. Her influences include ancient art, nature and abstract expressionism.
She has a keen eye for shape, color and layering surfaces and textures. She is focused on the process of hand building and the joy of manipulating clay to realize her vision.
STATEMENT
Hunger, Food, and the Female Gaze
In cultures around the world, women are discouraged from exhibiting a love of food. Men are celebrated for their expansive appetites, but for women, the sensual thrill of eating for pleasure is taboo. And yet, women are disproportionately responsible for the labor of growing and preparing the food that nurtures the family.
I am fascinated by the tension in this paradox, especially at the intersection of art and commerce. Sardine tins, no bigger than a jewel box and so easy to overlook, often combine depictions of day-to-day homemaking with idealized and even sexualized images of women. Elaborate and beautiful, they are a particular source of inspiration.
My work—which calls back to traditional gender roles, folklore, and the paintings of the Dutch Masters—explores images of women and food in advertising and pop culture, with an eye to humor, melancholy, the body, and pleasure. We are hungry!
BIO
Artist, performer, songwriter.
Her evocative artwork, which explores food, femininity, and sexuality, has been featured in numerous gallery shows. She is excited to exhibit her ceramics for the first time in this Spring 2023 show “EAT ME!” at Collar Works.
Susan created all the lush and whimsical paintings for the book: The Green Witch’s Guide to Magical Plants & Flowers: Love Spells from Apples to Zinnias (June 2023, Skyhorse Publishing). She also developed the vegan recipes featured in the book.
Susan has been a groundbreaking food stylist and recipe developer for over twenty years. Her work has been featured in magazines, cookbooks, and advertisements from Bon Appétit to Grey Goose to Uber Eats.
Best known as the lead singer for pop band Book of Love, Susan and her bandmates recorded five albums for Warner Brothers Records/Sire Records. The group reunited in 2016 for a sold-out world tour to mark their 30th Anniversary.
She earned a BFA in Painting from The Philadelphia College of Art, and has been awarded post-graduate certificates from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park and the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City.
ceramics
3 x 5.5”
2022
Susan’s ceramics are inspired by food, femininity and sexuality. Her influences include ancient art, nature and abstract expressionism.
She has a keen eye for shape, color and layering surfaces and textures. She is focused on the process of hand building and the joy of manipulating clay to realize her vision.
STATEMENT
Hunger, Food, and the Female Gaze
In cultures around the world, women are discouraged from exhibiting a love of food. Men are celebrated for their expansive appetites, but for women, the sensual thrill of eating for pleasure is taboo. And yet, women are disproportionately responsible for the labor of growing and preparing the food that nurtures the family.
I am fascinated by the tension in this paradox, especially at the intersection of art and commerce. Sardine tins, no bigger than a jewel box and so easy to overlook, often combine depictions of day-to-day homemaking with idealized and even sexualized images of women. Elaborate and beautiful, they are a particular source of inspiration.
My work—which calls back to traditional gender roles, folklore, and the paintings of the Dutch Masters—explores images of women and food in advertising and pop culture, with an eye to humor, melancholy, the body, and pleasure. We are hungry!
BIO
Artist, performer, songwriter.
Her evocative artwork, which explores food, femininity, and sexuality, has been featured in numerous gallery shows. She is excited to exhibit her ceramics for the first time in this Spring 2023 show “EAT ME!” at Collar Works.
Susan created all the lush and whimsical paintings for the book: The Green Witch’s Guide to Magical Plants & Flowers: Love Spells from Apples to Zinnias (June 2023, Skyhorse Publishing). She also developed the vegan recipes featured in the book.
Susan has been a groundbreaking food stylist and recipe developer for over twenty years. Her work has been featured in magazines, cookbooks, and advertisements from Bon Appétit to Grey Goose to Uber Eats.
Best known as the lead singer for pop band Book of Love, Susan and her bandmates recorded five albums for Warner Brothers Records/Sire Records. The group reunited in 2016 for a sold-out world tour to mark their 30th Anniversary.
She earned a BFA in Painting from The Philadelphia College of Art, and has been awarded post-graduate certificates from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park and the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City.