'Vasto no. 5' (2025) by Susanna Ronner

Mixed media acrylic gouache painted paper, indirect mark-making

21 1/2”h x 17 1/2”w framed

Susanna Ronner is a graphic designer and artist working with monotype and mixed media/collage who resides in Bearsville near Woodstock, NY. After attending the High School of Music and Art in New York City, Susanna earned her BFA with honors in Graphic Design from the University of Illinois. From there, she went on to San Francisco and worked for some of the most influential graphic designers on the West Coast.

ARTIST STATEMENT

“Thanks to designer/artist, Milton Glaser, I discovered Monotypes (2017). It was the perfect process to rekindle my early, deep roots as an artist and a stirring for personal creative expression. A life long career as a professional graphic designer, honed under the wing of renowned San Francisco designers, complemented this new medium and creative passion. I approach my work with a cultivated eye — a result of a continuous visual exploration, which remains active and vibrant (design: susannaronner.com / art: susannaronner.art). 

As with jazz, I engage with each piece as an improvisation — I meet the blank ‘canvas’ with curiosity and see where it takes me. I’m accustomed to starting from ‘nothing’ — the result of years creating as a graphic designer, with the intent to each time create anew. This process is instinctive, and one that I trust fully. 

The energetic relationship of shapes as they come together, pull apart, are tied and interrupted by lines, continues to fascinate me. I stay attentive to how the eye moves around the surface, directing the viewer to specific spots. I’m always amazed how one tiny dot of color or element can be exactly what’s needed, or, too much. 

In Monotype, I tend to restrict the color range, to focus on the shapes at play — never random, always organized, 
yet free and potent. The serendipity of the print process has its own voice to be respected, mastered and responded to. In Mixed Media/Collage using primarily painted paper, I can focus more directly on the dynamic relationship of color interaction in an unimpeded way, while still focusing on shape, and the effect of line. 

I’ve come to recognize that my visual work reflects the profound role that design, art, dance, music and travel around the globe has had in my life, and continues to have — each influencing the other in a constant round of creative connection. I am grateful for it all.”