Reception: Bubbles and Deep Thoughts: Works on Paper by Susan Greenspan

These works originate from marks made while digitally retouching old family photographs. Initially I was interested in how retouching marks are always present, but hidden, in the making of almost every image we see today, and I wanted to bring them to the surface. I created abstract compositions that were dictated by digital corrections of blemishes, wrinkles, and tears in photographs that I had scanned. Over time, with experimentation, the compositions of blips and blobs coalesced into colorful orb-like forms. I thought of each orb as standing in for a person. How do you visually express the essence of a person, their thoughts, their mental state, their soul?