Portland State University's College of the Arts presents Drawing Water, a solo exhibition by Professor Emeritus Susan Harlan, on view May 18 - October 9, 2015.
Water is the unknown. You can traverse it as the stars traverse the sky - as a little speck. I began my first books when I was mapping the ocean, sailing from southern Florida up the East Coast and then to Europe. It was a six-month journey. It's very frightening, sailing across the Atlantic. At one point I thought, "Oh my god. I'm going to die. My father was right. This is stupid." I have this real fear and joy of being on the ocean. If you are going to be an artist for this long, you have to love the edge. Water does that for me. It is concrete for me and I understand its power."
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