Susana Barral is an artist who resides in beautiful south Florida. She was born in Havana, Cuba in 1959, the year of the revolution. Her family departed Cuba arriving in New York City in the spring of 1961. In New York, she attended catholic school where early on she demonstrated a love and special talent for art.

Susana received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Florida International University in 1985. Her paintings have been extensively exhibited throughout the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area where they have graced many public and private venues. Articles featuring her work have been featured in many publications such as El Nuevo Herald, City Link Magazine, Florida Art Scene and XS Magazine among others.

Interested in language and its creative potential, Susana enjoys writing poetry often including these with her exhibits. In addition, having at one time studied psychology and considered it for a career, she uses its humanistic and personal perspective to impress her work with a dimension beyond the expected or obvious.

Among her lifelong interests, an avid love of reading, especially of history and the classics imbues depth of meaning to the ideas behind the work and fuels the fire of inspiration. Her artistic and thematic repertoire focuses primarly on the human figure with the nuances of expression it provides. Nature and the landscape are subjects she also explores, being part of the vision of her inner language. Expressive brushstrokes, a deep rich palette and the personal element, show her indebtedness to the masters of the past such as VanGogh, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, and the expressionists.

For relaxation, Susana enjoys watching old hollywood movies, listening to music, and watercoloring out of doors taking full advantage of the natural beauty, tropical climate and vivid colors of south Florida where she has lived since 1969.

"Only someone who truly loves what they do along with possessing perseverance can break through the barriers present in the highly competitive and demanding arena of the visual arts. When being an artist is inevitable the obstacles can seem like nothing and the journey then becomes the jewel, not the destination."

My artwork features my vision of the world in a manner that I would describe as intensely personal and expressionistic. Although I dislike any set stylistic devices, preferring to work however my inspiration stirs me, for the purposes of description I sometimes use the word "expressionistic" in order to help define my manner of painting.

My subject matter focuses on nature and also especially, the human figure as a vehicle well suited to the expression of emotions and dynamic vitality. I have never painted in a manner conformed to the popular style or artistic movements of the moment, always maintaining my own unique response. Since I have never molded my art to these transitory constraints or to commercial demands, I believe my art has maintained a purity of vision unfettered by any extraneous concerns, other than my desire to paint and represent my own perspective.

When an artist fulfills their inner vision without ulterior motivations, the art that emerges maintains and expresses the poignancy of what it really means to be an artist in the purest sense of the word.

Art for me is a vocation. I strive only to crystallize the unique requirements of my journey, remembering with reverence and respect the past keepers of the path and hopefully, forging my niche in its infinite future.

Text by Susana G. Barral

The Art of Susana G. Barral
sgbarral@aol.com