INTENTIONALLY dimensional art, Nuttall discovered, is complex. She has
a degree in art and art history from the University of Utah, but it was an
additional degree in engineering that came in handy when she invented a
material that would sculpt and mold the way she wanted it to for a mural
at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
“I couldn’t find anything on the market that would work. I ended up creat-ing
a product and sold the formula to a company,” says Nuttall.
The material, called Divino, is sold through USG Corporation. It’s used in
most of Nuttall’s work, including her textured paintings of the historic Airlie
Gardens oak tree. There are several versions of the tree, each unique, and
the bark and branches can be felt. They are a top seller at the Gallery of
Fine Art at Mayfaire.
“People recognize the tree, the leaves look like they are glistening in the
sun, it brings it to life,” says gallery director Michael Golonka. “That’s what
makes Susan’s work unique, using the encaustics. It adds a whole other
dimension instead of it being a flat canvas. It’s exciting to see the return of
encaustics used in such a modern way.”
Nuttall and her family have lived in California, Charlotte and now Carolina
Beach. A large body of her art is of seascapes and sea life, a reflection of
her love of the beach, scuba diving and kayaking. She uses photographs to
capture the great outdoors and then goes to work in her studio, using tex-ture
to bring out features.
“There’s a whole flock of egrets that live here and the ibises that hang
out in my yard and the crabs on the beach, how can you not love that,” she
says.
Nuttall’s sculp-tures
include
seahorses inspired
by her visit to
an exhibit at the
Birch Museum
at the University
of California
San Diego, and
Octopoda on Rock,
a coral red octopus
that travels to dif-ferent
public ven-ues
for display.
Her sculptures
are made of wine
corks, wire, epoxy,
clay and resin.
“I use multiple
mediums in my
work and some-times
I combine the
mediums together
to come up with the
story I’m trying to
tell,” she says.
58 september 2022
WBM