About Susan Snipes
Artist’s Statement
Texts, emails, voicemails, social chats, and other digital messages inundate me daily blurring the line between “in real life” (IRL) and virtual connections. Technologies proclaiming to connect frequently leave me feeling isolated and overwhelmed.
In my immersive media installations, I blend recorded and live communications by projecting fragments of unanswered digital communications over physical “return to sender” letters and mixing voice recordings with live feedback.
My work underscores the unfulfilled longing for intimacy that digital culture amplifies. I aim to create spaces where viewers can reflect on the quality of their communications and consider intentional, authentic ways to connect in an increasingly mixed reality world.
Artist Bio
Susan Snipes is an interdisciplinary artist based in Cleveland, Ohio, whose media installations respond to the anxieties and disconnection of the digital age. Working across various mediums and often incorporating interactive elements, she creates immersive spaces that invite reflection and dialogue. Her work encourages audiences to explore their own roles within an interconnected reality where virtual and physical boundaries are increasingly blurred.
Susan holds an MFA in Visual Arts from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a BA in Art History from Case Western Reserve University. Her work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Kennedy Prize for Creative Achievement in the Arts.
Susan has exhibited extensively, with recent highlights including the CAN Triennial, “YOU ARE HERE” at The Sculpture Center in Cleveland, and the 79th Annual May Show at the Mansfield Art Center. Her work has also been featured in publications such as Collective Arts Network Journal and The Earthkeepers Handbook, curated by Kim Abeles and Whitefeather Hunter.
An active advocate for her community, Susan founded NEO Art Opportunities to connect Northeast Ohio artists with grants, exhibitions, and other resources. She also established UNDERSTORY, a contemporary art space in Cleveland dedicated to showcasing emerging conceptual and media artists, with the goal of making art more accessible to the public.
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Exhibitions
2025
Entangled, Gallery D300, CalArts, Valencia, California
2024
Reverberations, UNDERSTORY, Cleveland, Ohio
Summer Studio Space, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado
79th Annual May Show, Mansfield Art Center, Mansfield, Ohio
May Show, The Gallery at Lakeland, Kirtland, Ohio
Winter Studio Space, Susquehanna College, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania
Summer Studio Space, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado
79th Annual May Show, Mansfield Art Center, Mansfield, Ohio
May Show, The Gallery at Lakeland, Kirtland, Ohio
Winter Studio Space, Susquehanna College, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania
2023
Heal the Man, Heal the Land, Earthkeepers Handbook, curated by Kim Abeles and WhiteFeather Hunter
Winter Exhibition, The Ark, Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier, Vermont
Winter Exhibition, The Ark, Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier, Vermont
2022
CAN Triennial, “YOU ARE HERE”, The Sculpture Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Member Exhibition, Artist Archives of the Western Reserve, Cleveland, Ohio
Member Exhibition, Artist Archives of the Western Reserve, Cleveland, Ohio
2021
Primal Disposition, Vestige Gallery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Potential Energy (SOLO EXHIBITION), Suite 215 Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
May Show, The Gallery at Lakeland, Kirtland, Ohio
48th Hoyt Regional Juried Exhibition, Hoyt Art Center, New Castle, Pennsylvania - MERIT AWARD
Celestial Bodies, Adrian Center for the Arts, Adrian, Michigan - HONORABLE MENTION
BAYarts Annual Juried Exhibition 2021, Sullivan Gallery, Bay Village, Ohio
Art in Isolation, Ashtabula Arts Center, Ashtabula, Ohio - HONORABLE MENTION
Potential Energy (SOLO EXHIBITION), Suite 215 Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
May Show, The Gallery at Lakeland, Kirtland, Ohio
48th Hoyt Regional Juried Exhibition, Hoyt Art Center, New Castle, Pennsylvania - MERIT AWARD
Celestial Bodies, Adrian Center for the Arts, Adrian, Michigan - HONORABLE MENTION
BAYarts Annual Juried Exhibition 2021, Sullivan Gallery, Bay Village, Ohio
Art in Isolation, Ashtabula Arts Center, Ashtabula, Ohio - HONORABLE MENTION
2020
49th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Margaret “Peg” Bowen Gallery, Chagrin Falls, Ohio
Great Northern Art Explosion, AuSable Artisan Village, Grayling, Michigan
Art from the Shutdown, YARDS Projects, Cleveland, Ohio
Great Northern Art Explosion, AuSable Artisan Village, Grayling, Michigan
Art from the Shutdown, YARDS Projects, Cleveland, Ohio