Folded Forms: Sculptural Canvas Works by Susan Maddux

Hawaii-based artist artist Susan Maddux transforms painted canvas into striking sculptural wall pieces, using meticulous folds, pleats and layered arrangements to push painting beyond the traditional stretched frame. Her works begin as flat squares of raw canvas, which are soaked with washes of pigment before being folded back into carefully shaped reliefs that drape, fan out and cascade across the wall.

Drawing on her background in textile design, Susan treats folding as both a structural device and a physical, intuitive process. Repeated creases create rhythmic silhouettes, while soft gradients of blue, green, pink, ochre and earthy brown shift across the fabric as it bends and overlaps.

For Susan, the process also connects to ideas of memory, labor and cultural inheritance. As a fourth-generation Japanese American raised in Hawaii, she incorporates elements associated with garment construction, domestic craft and handwork into a visual language that emphasizes material knowledge and touch.

For more of Susan Maddux’s creations, visit her website and follow her latest updates on Instagram.

More art on the grid via Colossal