Susan Fecho specializes in multi-media printmaking, surface designer, and illustration with a M.F.A. from ECU, and botanical illustrator certificate from NCBG. Her lifelong devotion to art includes over 40 years of teaching and working with art students in the United States and abroad. In addition, she has pursued postgraduate studies at various institutions including Jan Van Eyck Academie, Humboldt Field Research Institute, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Northern Illinois University, NC Botanical Gardens and Penland School of Crafts. Fecho has exhibited nationally, and internationally – and has received numerous awards, grants, and residencies.
Fecho, born in Virginia and long-term resident of North Carolina, is connected to “place” – she has a deep appreciation for the natural world of North Carolina, her home. Fecho’s images have been accepted into several major collections: the Smithsonian Institution’s American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery Library, Washington, D.C.; the Word and Image Department, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; and the Museum of Women Artists, Washington, D.C.
Fecho’s academic contributions appear in scientific journals such as Nature Reviews Urology, The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, The Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, The Journal of Urology, and The Neuronal & Systems Mechanisms of Affective Touch & Therapeutic Tissue Manipulation Research (NeuronS_MATTR) Network. Fecho’s work also appeared in educational/inspirational such as Forward Future: Journal of Integrative Teaching International, Kakalak: An Anthology of Carolina Poets, New Art International: A Compendium of Recent Work, Portrait of the Outer Banks: An Artist’s Sketch, Our State Magazine, and VIVA NOLA Magazine.
Artist Statement
“I am a collector of media and techniques – and strive for integration between collaged papers, fabric, traditionally and digitally produced images. Each medium has its own unique characteristics. In work characterized as “sophisticated elegance.” I remain fascinated by the layering and coloration of elements. Layers are left translucent to enhance the textural feel of the surface. Driving the subject choice in my work is historic iconography. I enjoy researching symbols and architectural elements related to culture and genre – and to ponder the content, design, color relationships between them. Storytelling is at the core of my work, with the collaged surface used as a mode of telling stories, expressing feelings, and sharing imagery. My work is most easily identified with the landscape of home – poetic and lyrical archetypal views of nostalgic landscapes – and include traces of friends, family, and relationships. The work is personal and introspective, like a journal or diary in which an object is often a representation of self or of viewer. Through my work the familiar reappears in unfamiliar configurations; a new sense of significance is imparted to an otherwise everyday object.”