Susan Tabachnick makes things out of found objects, both sculptural and functional. Her work is about connections and the partnering of disparate objects. Attracted to the idea that everything has a history, she might not know what an object is or how it was used, yet it brings a patina, a fingerprint of its past life to her work table. When the histories of these objects are joined, an unexpected piece of work comes forth.
Her works of art begin with an object that she is attracted to rather than a fixed idea of something that she wants to build. As the pieces come together – they are never altered in any way – a new “life†is resurrected from a previous one. Importantly, the process requires that all the parts balance as the construction evolves; this drives the flexibility and fluidity of finding just the right part. The great majority of her work is made from wood and metal objects; well crafted, once essential and necessary with a particular purpose.