About
Suzann Toni Petrongolo
Biography
Suzann Toni Petrongolo began training at the Kaizer School of Art at a young age, and honed her skills at the Akiko Day School of Art throughout her high school years. With Akiko Day, Suzann built a portfolio showcasing her technique in a variety of material and subject matter, including traditional art, surrealism, and experimental materials. At 16, Suzann won her first art competition, receiving the first place blue ribbon for the Annual Congressional Art Competition (2008). Her winning piece was on display at the U.S. Capitol for one year. Suzann found her love and passion for figurative work during her undergraduate studies at the University of Notre Dame, where she studied the anatomy of the human form, composition, and personal expression.
In 2017, Suzann’s work was featured in the online art and literature magazine, Boston Accent Lit. She was later selected for a solo exhibition at Pursue Love & Coffee, a growing art community and gallery in Los Angeles (2018). Suzann most recently completed her introspective series “Moments Before,” featuring eight portrait and figurative paintings. The series as a whole was selected as a Finalist in Camelback Gallery's Solo Exhibition Competition, and one of the paintings, “Release,” was selected to show in Michael Rose Fine Art’s International Group Exhibition “Artists to Follow in 2021.” The full series, along with other selected works, is now showing in Suzann's solo exhibition at Gitana Cafe in Hermosa Beach, CA.
View Suzann's resume here.
"Moments Before" Series
Artist statement
In my life, I have always felt I am on a journey that is leading up to something. Whether that journey takes a few weeks or many years, the pay off does not seem quite as exciting or daunting as the very moment before it happens; that the height of emotion is not actually in the event itself, but in the preparation leading up to it. It is the build up, the thought that everything has led to this moment. This moment before.
In just a few moments, you will escape from a cage you didn’t know trapped you, walk down the aisle, or be crowned a queen. You take quiet moments before you finish a puzzle or pour your morning coffee to yourself: the rare, solitary seconds of reflection and relaxation.
"Moments Before" explores ideas of escapism, preparation, and solitude; believing in yourself as you rush to the surface of the ocean, as if entering a new chapter of life, a new beginning you never thought would come. And even with a crowd in the stands as you ready to dismount a balance beam, it is somehow quiet to you. In these moments before, it is scary, yet exhilarating. In these moments before, it is you.
