Susan Rowland

Known primarily as a sculptor, Susan Rowland makes ceramic figurines of animals including dogs, fish, and flying hippos, using the simplicity of clay and age-old glazing techniques to emphasize the animals’ purity. Of a series of dogs titled “Carla” (2003-04), influenced by her observation of architectural dog sculptures in Chinese temples and Etruscan tombs, she said, “[they] are not monumental, but they are from a pack of important little dogs, made to hold up New York.” The idea of holding up New York also comes across through her series of prints of plants that sprouted from the rubble at Ground Zero in Manhattan in the spring of 2002. She labeled each print with the location of the plant in relation to the fallen towers.