ABOUT
Fan Su (1994, China) creates immersive installations -– that utilize glass alongside stockings, chiffon, rope, video, sound, and other materials – to explore habitually suppressed and traumatic histories of the (Asian) female body.
Her ephemeral installations, which envision the body and the skin as penetrable surfaced membranes, are merged with actions of dissecting, cutting, sewing, stretching, and impaling. Through guiding and immersing the viewer into the spaces, Su’s work invites viewers to consider an agonized female body that has been endlessly manipulated, reshaped, and rebuilt under social control. By redrawing the viewer’s conception of body and parts, these works unzip the body from its cultural residue and unfold what lies below the surface. Ultimately, Su asks, “What is a body?”,”what do our bodies carry?”
Fan Su lives and works in Columbus, OH. She teaches at Columbus College of Art and Design and works as a Gaffer in The Ohio State University's Glass Department. She received her MFA in glass in 2021 from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Su has held residencies and fellowships from the Peter Bullough Foundation, STARworks, and RISD.
2021 MFA, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
2017 BFA, Columbus College of Art and Design
2015 Oil Painting, Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts
SELECTED RESIDENCIES & AWARDS
Artist Assistantship, Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA 2024
Artist in Residence, Roy G Biv Gallery, Columbus, OH, 2023
Artist in Residence, Peter Bullough Foundation, Winchester, VA, 2022
Glass Intern, STARworks, Star, NC, 2022
Metal Intern & Apprenticeship, Star, NC, 2023
Fellowship, RISD, 2020-2021
Fellowship, RISD, 2019-2020
Excellent Awards, the STEAM Factory, 2018
Cum Laude, CCAD, 2017
Deans List, CCAD, 2017
Presidents List, CCAD, 2016 & 2017
CCAD Trustees’ Scholarship, 2016
CCAD Portfolio scholarship, 2016
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Untitled, Roy G Biv Gallery, Columbus, OH, 2023
(SOLO) Unfold the Body, Skylab Gallery, Columbus, OH, 2022
The Gender Half Truth, Ramboya Gallery, Berlin, Germany, 2021
Rhode Island School of Design Glass Triennial, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI, 2021
Body As a Surface (MFA Thesis Exhibition ), RISD Museum, Providence, RI, 2021
Embodied Memories, Online Exhibition, Rhode Island School of Design, 2021
Revealing the Surface, Sol Koffler Gallery, Providence, RI. 2021
Religion COMPAS Visual Arts, the STEAM Factory, Columbus, OH, 2018
Chrome, Beeler Gallery, Columbus, OH, curated by Tim Rietenbach, 2018
(SOLO) Filter, Acock Gallery, Columbus, OH, 2017
YOUNG HEARTS 6: The Color of Love, Sean Christopher Gallery, Columbus, OH, 2017
Chrome, Acock Gallery, Columbus, OH, curated by Tim Rietenbach, 2017
Noves Histories, OHIO ART LEAGUE 2016 Spring Juried Exhibition, Urban Arts Space, OH, 2016
Closer, Beaton Gallery, OH, 2016
In need of an audience, Beaton Gallery, OH, 2016
The Little Free Library, Byers Gallery, OH, 2016
Chrome, Columbus, OH, curated by Tim Rietenbach, 2016
"Hand Collection," Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, Shaan' Xi, China, 2015
"Drawing," Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, Shaan' Xi, China, 2015
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"Grad Show 2021." RISD Museum Publications. Summer 2021.
Interview, CCAD Stories, Session 2: 2016-2017.