Focus on: Lexington artist Susan Harb transforms found objects into one-of-a-kind pieces

Why you should know her: Susan, a Lexington-based artist who’s lived in the Rockbridge County area for roughly 15 years, unveiled the new month-long exhibit “Lust for Rust” — featuring a mix of sculptures and assemblages made from found objects indigenous to rural Virginia — at the Academy of Fine Arts last week.

Background

The Indiana-born admirer of avant-garde expression was reared about 35 miles west of Orlando in the former citrus hub of Groveland, where she spent much of her childhood playing the part of resident tomboy, often hanging out around her father’s tractor business and sweeping up his welding shop once a week.

That early introduction to heavy equipment and all things metal served as a breeding ground for her future profession in the art world, one that’s rooted in the scavenging of automobile graveyards, refuse piles and decaying dump sites for the right materials to fashion her unconventional pieces.

But her obsession with the discarded relics of the past came later.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in news and editorial writing from the University of Florida, she set out on a 15-year career as a journalist, covering the arts for publications like the Washington Star, the Virginian-Pilot, the Gainesville Sun and others.


Full story: http://www.newsadvance.com/the_burg/features/focus_on/focus-on-lexington-artist-susan-harb-transforms-found-objects-into/article_8a707fa2-7880-11e3-9252-0019bb30f31a.html

Attribution: Brent Wells, newsadvance.com