Susan Dory creates complexity through the repetition of a single element. She builds her paintings with many layers, painting, pouring, masking, and pay particular attention to the negative space created by the painted forms.

Using capsules shapes, Dory explores their possibilities—docking, lodging together, interlocking in groups, floating freely, and tunneling through space. The capsule shape itself is fascinating in the way it can be deconstructed. Remove its curved ends and all that remains is two parallel lines, like an equals sign. Whereas removing the parallel lines leaves the two curved ends, like parenthesis, or a departure in a body of text or an insertion of a symbolic unit, she explains.

Dory has won numerous awards and grants. Her work is exhibited extensively across the United States.



"I am interested in creating complexity through the repetition of a single element. I build my paintings with many layers, painting, pouring, masking, and pay particular attention to the negative space created by the painted forms. By using the capsule shape in my compositions I explore the possibilities of these shapes docking, organizing and lodging together, interlocking as groups, floating freely in and tunneling through space. The capsule shape itself is fascinating in the way it can be deconstructed. By removing the two end curves, what remains are two parallel lines like an equal sign or implied infinity. The removal of the parallel lines of the capsule shape leaves only the two curved ends, like parenthesis, representing departure in a body of text or insertion of a symbolic unit. Deconstruction of the capsules within my compositions interjects ideas of movement, crossing, passage, overlapping, time/motion, and dynamism.

Color can dominate, helping to inform decisions and creative routes during the process. The juxtaposition of colors unites the various modulated passages within my work. I take joy in the language, patterning and process of painting."

National awards

2001 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
1998 Texas Fine Arts Association, New American Talent: The 14th Exhibition, Curators Award

Local awards

2004 Seattle Arts Commission, Public Art Purchase Award
2003 The Neddy Award, Behnke Foundation Artist Fellowship
Artist Trust/WA State Arts Commission Fellowship Grant
2002 King County Office of Cultural Affairs, Purchase Award
2001 Artist Trust GAP Grant
1999 Seattle Arts Commission, Artist Grant, Seattle Collects
1997 Bellevue Art Museum, Pacific Northwest Annual, Juror's Award Centrum Foundation, Artist-in-Residence Fellowship,
Port Townsend, WA
ArtSpace/CARBO Group Show, Best of Show Award

Selected exhibitions

2016

• Boecker Contemporary, Heidelberg, Germany and Corridor Projects, Dayton, Ohio, Fiction (With Only Daylight Between Us), v2, King Street Station/Vital 5, Out Of Site, Seattle, WA  
• Winston Wachter Fine Art, Motherlode, New York, NY
• Winston Wachter Fine Art, Micromega, Seattle, WA

2015

• Geoffrey Young Gallery, Remains to Be Seen, Great Barrington, MA
• Geoffrey Young Gallery, If Not For You, Great Barrington, MA

2013

• Guthrie Contemporary, Jetset, New Orleans, LA

2012

• Winston Wachter Fine Art, Contiguous, Seattle, WA
• Winston Wachter Fine Art, Persistent Mutualism, New York, NY

2011

• Kittredge Gallery, University of Puget Sound, Susan Dory, Margie Livingston, Michelle Grabner, Tacoma, WA

2010

• Guthrie Contemporary, New Paintings, New Orleans, LA
• Winston Wachter Fine Art, Polychrome, Seattle, WA

2009

• Guthrie Contemporary, Schemata, New Orleans, LA
• Walker Contemporary, The Shape of the Plan, Boston, MA

2008

• Winston Wachter Fine Art, Equipose, New York, NY
• 212 Gallery, Summer Group Show, Aspen, CO

2007

• Winston Wachter Fine Art, Opsis, Seattle WA
• Tacoma Art Museum, 8th NW Biennial, Tacoma, WA
• Winston Wachter Fine Art, New Paintings, New York, NY

2006

• Winston Wachter Fine Art, Sequence Bias, Seattle, WA

2005

• Tacoma Art Museum, Neddy Exhibition, Tacoma, WA
• Winston Wachter Fine Art, North by Northwest, New York, NY
• Kresge Art Museum, Michigan State University, Paintings That Paint Themselves, or So it Seems, East Lansing, MI
• Winston Wachter Fine Art, Lucky 7, Seattle, WA

2004

• Nathan Laramendy Gallery, Hidden Treasures, Ojai, CA
• Howard House, About the House, Seattle, WA
• Davidson Gallery, Strata, Group Exhibition, Seattle, WA
• Howard House, YSA Group Exhibition, Seattle, WA

2003

• Catharine Clark Gallery, Works on Paper, SCOPE Miami, FL
• Western Washington Gallery, Surface Tension, University of Western WA, Bellingham, WA traveling exhibit from Mills College, Oakland, CA
• Arthouse, New American 18, curated by Dominic Molon,
• Austin, TX (award & catalog)
• San Diego Art Institute, 46th Annual International Exhibit,curated by Hugh M. Davies, San Diego, CA
• Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Contours: Extended Painting, Victoria, BC, Canada, curated by Matthew Kangas and Lisa Baldissera (catalogue)

2002

• Howard House, Shift, Seattle, WA
• Margaret Thatcher Projects, Breathing Room, New York, NY
• Henry Art Gallery, Universtiy of Washington, Cheap Thrills,Seattle, WA
• Margaret Thatcher Projects, Dreamy, New York, NY
• Winston Wachter Fine Art, Abstraction, Seattle, WA
• Mills College, Surface Tension, Oakland, CA, curated by Katie Crum traveling to Western Washington University,Bellingham, WA April

2001

• Catharine Clark Gallery, TimeMotion, San Francisco, CA
• Catharine Clark Gallery, 10, San Francisco, CA
• Howard House, Lineformcolor: from Abstraction to Architecture, Seattle, WA

2000

• Margaret Thatcher Projects, Summer Indulgence, New York, NY
• Gensler & Associates, Group Show, Los Angeles, CA
• Bellevue Art Museum, Northwest Annual, curated by Brian Wallace, Bellevue, WA
• Howard House, Paintings, Seattle, WA
• Rudolph Poissant Gallery, Group Show, Houston, TX
• Howard House, Air Hockey, Seattle, WA

1999

• Catharine Clark Gallery, Pansy, San Francisco, CA
• Bellevue Art Museum, Fresh Flowers, Curated by Brian Wallace, Bellevue, WA
• Bellevue Art Museum, Northwest Annual, curated by Jon Tupper, Bellevue, WA
• Austin Museum of Art, New American Talent: The Fourteenth
• Exhibition, curated by Amada Cruz, Austin, TX (award & catalog)

1998

• Howard House, Hallwalls, Seattle, WA
• Bellevue Art Museum, Northwest Annual, curated by Brian Wallace, Bellevue, WA
• PONCHO Invitational Art Exhibition, SeaFirst Gallery, Seattle, WA
• Seattle Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery, Introductions, Seattle, WA
• Linda Cannon Gallery, Seattle, WA

1997

• Howard House, Inaugural Exhibition, Seattle, WA
• Bellevue Art Museum, Northwest Annual, curated by Katharyn Kanjo, Bellevue, WA
• Equinox Gallery, C.A.R.B.O., Seattle, WA

1996

• Equinox Gallery, Wax Paintings, Seattle, WA
• Equinox Gallery, 1st Annual Invitational, Seattle, WA

1995

• Galeria Potatohead, Group Show, Seattle, WA
• 619 Gallery, Small Works, Seattle, WA
• Bellevue Art Museum, Northwest Annual, Bellevue, WA

Publications and reviews

• Beal, Suzanne, "Critic's Picks: Seattle", Art LTD Magazine, March 2012
• Graves, Jen, "Currently Hanging: Susan Dory, A Little Bit Street-er”, The Stranger, March 6, 2012
• Graves, Jen, "Susan Dory and George Stoll”, The Stranger, March 15, 2012
• Kim, Hyelim, "Susan Dory, Persistent Mutualism, Review", Art Wide, March 2012
• Vivre Voyager, “Pop Goes the West”, Summer 2008
• Rowe, Lindsey, “Artists We Love”, Seattle, Homes and Lifestyles, April, 2008
• Kangas, Matthew, “Creating, and enjoying, art for the sake of art”, Seattle Times, February 17, 2006
• Hackett, Regina, “Susan Dory's grids set their own rhythm”, Seattle Post Intelligencer, January 27, 2006
• Kangas, Matthew, "Young Stars and Abstract Stripes Captivate in New Group Shows", Seattle Times, December 12, 2003
• Hackett, Regina, "YSA", Seattle Post Intelligencer, December 12, 2003
• Johnson, Ken, "Dreamy", New York Times, April 26, 2002
• Thompson, Sandy, "Surface Tension at Mills College", Artweek, April 2002
• DeVuono, Francis, "Abstraction at Winston Wachter Fine Art", Artweek, April 2002
• Kangas, Matthew, "Abstraction", Seattle Times, January 2002
• Golonu, Berin, "Jill Weinstock and Susan Dory", Artweek, June 2001
• Kangas, Matthew, "Susan Dory at Howard House", Art in America, September, 2000
• Kangas, Matthew, "Four young artists embraced the pleasures of the abstract world", Seattle Times, April 14, 2000
• Hackett, Regina, "Stream of fluid abstraction connects engaging works by trio of local artists", Seattle Post Intelligencer, April 21, 2000
• Fredrickson, Eric, Art Bio, The Stranger, April 6-12, 2000
• Rose, Cynthia, "Air Hockey", Seattle Times, Dec. 2, 1999
• Sims, Lowry New American Paintings, The Open Studio Press, Dec/Jan 1999- 2000
• Hackett, Regina, Seattle Post Intelligencer, July, 1999
• Kangas, Matthew, "BAM NW Annual", Seattle Times, June, 1999
• Kangas, Matthew, "Bold in Bellevue", Seattle Times, July, 1998
• Hackett, Regina, "Northwest Annual at BAM is Nice Surprise", Seattle Post Intelligencer, July, 1999
• Kangas, Matthew, "SAM'S RSG Offers Sales - and Shows Too", Seattle Times, July, 1998
• Bell, Clare, New American Painting, The Open Studio Press, Oct/Nov 1997
• Kangas, Matthew, "Pleasant Changes Enrich BAM", Seattle Times, July, 1997
• Updike, Robin, "Bellevue Annual Sparks Vitality of Art Scene", Seattle Times, June, 1997
• Bryant, Elizabeth, "Six of One, Half Dozen of the Other", Art Access, December 1996
• Time Capsule, A Concise Encyclopedia by Women Artists, Creative Time/ SOS International, DAP, 1995

Public work and commissions

• * King County Public Library, Commission, Sammamish, WA
• * TF Green International Airport, Public Art Commission, Warwick, RI
• Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA
• Everett Events Center, Public Art Commission, Everett, WA
• Art in Embassy Program, Vientiane, Laos, US Embassy
• King County Arts Commission, Public Art Award, Seattle, WA
• Seattle Arts Commission, Seattle, WA
• Microsoft, Redmond, WA
• Vulcan Enterprises, Bellevue, WA
• W Hotel, Chicago
• City of Seattle
• Swedish Hospital, Seattle, WA
• Nordstrom Headquarters, Seattle, WA
• Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV
• Spa Resort Casino, Palm Springs, CA

Education

• Universaet Wien, Vienna, Austria, 1990-91
• Iowa State University, Ames, IA, BA 1987
• Independent study/travel in India, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Europe 1987-91