Fallen Angel | mixed media with horse skull and found objects, 68" x 24" x 24"
Shroud | mixed media with elk skull and found objects, 22" x 24" x 8"
Bat House | mixed media with ostrich, cat and hedgehog skulls, and found objects, 27" x 16" x 12"
Polly | mixed media with zebra and cat skull, cow ribs and found objects, 31" x 22" x 20"
Escapee | mixed media with elk skull and found objects, 24" x 22" x 8"
Still Born | mixed media with deer skull, horse ribs and found objects, 34" x 24" x 14" Collaboration with Mari Bennett
Perch | mixed media with deer, cat skulls, fox skulls, and found objects, 31" x 18" x 14"
My Eyes Are Up Here | mixed media with pig skull and found objects, 59" x 22" x 24"
Death's Head Moth | mixed media with beaver and coyote skull, and found objects, 15" x 16" x 7"
Dasher | mixed media with elk skull and found objects, 24" x 22" x 8"
Mermaid | mixed media with pig skull, cow vertebra and pelvic bones, and found objects, 66" x 16" x 10"
Conjoined | mixed media with coyote skulls and found objects, 20" x 14" x 6"
Big Boned | mixed media with elk skull and deer antlers, and found objects, 38" x 27" x 14"
First Flight | mixed media with elk skull and found objects, 54" x 21" x 20"
Boo | mixed media with deer skull and antlers, coyote vertebra and found objects, 37" x 22" x 12"
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Member Portfolio

Sue Moerder

Philadelphia, PA

Résumé

Artist's Statement

All through my life as an Artist, I've always been impatient and messy - getting more inspired by the decision making and not so much the physical creating or the outcome.
I've used a number of mediums and techniques... and had a couple successful Art careers, but nothing really felt like a good fit. I went to College for Illustration, and ending up in Advertising, doing some Soft Sculpture and Glass Blowing along the way. I was dumped out of Advertising and ended up in Tattooing - enjoying it, but struggling for years and now successful with my own shop... and as much as I love the art form of tattooing and the therapy connected with it, it's a stressful medium with sometimes way too much client interaction... and I never seem to be completely happy with anything I do, even though the client is. I always find fault and always feel like I could do better.
I started painting skulls as a little side thing to relieve stress, which quickly evolved into sculpting with found objects - enhancing and working with the skulls. I didn't even know that Assemblage Art was a thing before it turned into a way of life. Now I'm on a constant treasure hunt where everything I see turns into inspiration - I see skulls on everything now and objects are only seen as possible body parts or things I can use. It's all about making decisions in placement of shapes and textures - constant problem solving and fitting puzzle pieces.
My Art is hard and rough and complicated in its style - even when I use elegant, ornate antiques - I like mixing in an opposing texture or rusty industrial object to exaggerate the contrast. I enjoy layering details til you can't tell where one stops and one begins - uncovering lots of little discoveries as they are viewed and explored. I get lost in the intricacy and detail of each piece until it's perfectly balanced and I'm completely happy with the composition and flow.
Every time I start a new piece, it's different sometimes I have an idea in mind, and other times I just start with an object and let it take me where it will. It's so much fun to turn old objects and skulls into new creations - bringing new life to the dead and discarded.

Education

1988
Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA
1982
Philadelphia College of Art, Philadelphia, PA
BA, Illustration
1876
Governor's School for the Arts
5 week scholarship

Artist's Bibliography

2021
Farr, Stephanie, "This Philly skull artist makes no bones about her craft (but she does use quite a few)", The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 11
Featured Artist, Art Reveal, Issue 59, May 2021
Hammonton News
Hammonton Daily Journal
2020
"Featured Artist Sue Moerder", Artsy Shark
Video, "Sue Moerder", ArtC TV, April 1
Hammonton News
Hammonton Daily Journal
2019
Podcast Interview, Pillars of Hammonton
Rohrer, Bill, "New Jersey artist takes creativity to next level", Fox 29 Philadelphia, September 6
Monacelli, Adam, "NJ artist gives new life to the dead and discarded", The Courier-Post Online, August 20
Outsider Magazine, Issue One
Hammonton News
Hammonton Daily Journal
Collections
Gallery 4Twelve, Pittsburgh, PA
Professional Experience
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Guest Art Speaker for Robert Roesch and Suzanne Reese Horvitz

Selected Exhibitions

Solo
2021
Subculture Hair Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Group
2021
Eye of the Beholder, Circle Gallery, Annapolis, MD
Outsider Art Exhibition, Hammonton, NJ
Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Ivystone Studio, Downingtown, PA
2020
The Strange & Unusual, Philadelphia, PA
Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Ivystone Studio, Downingtown, PA
2019
Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Ivystone Studio, Downingtown, PA
Curated Exhibitions
2017 - 2021
Moerder Tattoos & Gallery, Hammonton, NJ
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