About the Work
"Sue Freda works in a variety of media—virtually simultaneously. What binds her disparate and prodigious output together is how the pieces share common information so they can be viewed along a continuum." – Art New England
Sue Freda’s work explores transparency, form, and line through woven wire, cast glass, resin, and painted surfaces, creating pieces that feel calm, intimate, and quietly expressive. Her sculptural forms catch light and cast shadow, shifting with their surroundings and inviting close attention.
Transparent, interconnected forms with jewel-like quality draw from nature, fashion, and spirit--- grounded yet ethereal. Her work feels at once ancient and futuristic—fragile yet enduring. Her process is equally organic and intuitive. “I usually have four or five pieces going at once. I go into the studio without an immediate plan in mind, then work on whichever piece I feel drawn to.” This approach allows each piece to unfold naturally, guided by attention and instinct.
Sue Freda’s mixed media work combines materials and meaning to create pieces that engage the viewer with movement, texture, and depth. While her work may appear whimsical or improvised, each piece is carefully composed in a very deliberate way.
Using a palette of unusual elements—iridescent pearl dust, gold metal powder, graphite, reclaimed wood, sea glass, leaf, wax, and wire—she constructs dimensional collages that feel precise yet alive. Her mixed media draws on the same three-dimensional materials as her sculpture, forming a vocabulary of symbols that tell a story, each chosen for specific characteristics and meanings.
Paintings, collages, and sculptures exist in dialogue with one another, each referencing and expanding the others to create a cohesive body of work.Freda’s pieces encourage reflection and connection, blurring the line between the individual and the collective. In shared spaces, they act as subtle points of engagement, inviting conversation and quiet interaction.
"I sometimes refer to inspirational textile images from the turn of the century or look to the early days of film for concepts and forms." - Sue, Art Summit
Sue's work considers both environment and viewer. She hand mixes all of her paint, nothing from a tube or a can, combining with pigments like charcoal or chalk, to enrich them and to save on environmental waste.
She sources mica from mines in New Hampshire, which she sifts all by hand to separate it from the dirt. This process gives a range of color, particle size, and sparkle. It provides the viewer with a rich experience and gives a nod to nature with its irregularity and scope.
Her glass components were cast and fused in her studio to create new forms that can't be purchased from a manufacturer. They reference snowflakes, ice or other filigree of nature. They are the waste from local glass studios, given new life.