About Me
I am very fortunate to have stuck with creating art for the last 25 years.
This has taught me many things on the inside and the outside.
I fall in love easily, yet my inspiration primarily comes back to nature.
Statement
I contemplate the gap between the human’s experience and power, compared to other living organisms. The human’s brilliance and creativity often seems out-of-sync, reckless and in-denial in regard to nature. We have an existence problem without nature and seem to forget how dependent we are. I would like to think that the earth depends upon us, as we depend upon her. I wonder if we are still enough in our inner landscape, we may understand the earth’s message to us and unlock a divine code, that we are meant to retrieve while here.
My inspiration begins with people - their complexity, their mystery. I am also fascinated by the intricacy of growth and light patterns in nature. Both embody a longing to connect with a higher source -- together this is where my paintings begin. • Plants and trees intertwine, shade each other, hold each other, choke each other - people do the same. We all have an unfathomable ability to adapt and survive. As emotional beings, people navigate through life at times harmoniously or perhaps uncomfortably, aggressively, or lovingly. We are capable of living in complete balance, yet it is often fleeting or temporary. When I walk through nature I see our relationships mirrored there. How rocks rest soundly in their riverbed while water strokes and encircles them. How towering trees create a grand, breathtaking, cathedral while poison ivy or wisteria grip at their base. How meadows of tall grass dance with the wind as if stretching their limber bodies to the vast sky above. It is all so beautiful, it is all so tragic, it is an array of survival techniques.
Bio - Furst earned her BFA, from University of Michigan. She has exhibited in a variety of venues primarily as an installation artist for dance troupes in Philadelphia. In addition to oil painting, Furst has art directed and designed for clients internationally. • Upon graduating college, Furst began her career working in graphic design for Rudolph de Harak in NY. Later she founded Wirtz Design -- some of her clients included Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson and Johnson, NT Callaway Real Estate and McCarter Theater. In 1992 she became the art director for Wine&Spirits magazine handling an array of artists, photographers stylists and writers. This lasted until the birth of her first child in 1995.
Over the next 16 years, Furst continued working as a freelance designer while simultaneously raising three children. In 2001, she began studying oil painting at The Arts Council of Princeton and has continued intensively ever since. • Born 1963 in Allentown, PA. Furst’s family of seven resided in an old 18th century stone inn which was the lodging for the property when it was a ski resort. As a hobby, her parents turned the property into a horse farm. They cared for and showed 37 Arabian horses, which were housed in two barns across from the ‘inn’. Furst was free to roam the 82 acres of pastures, forests, mountains and rivers, often alone or with a dog. The influence of this experience can easily be seen in all her works. • At the age of nine, upon moving to Princeton NJ, Furst became immersed in studying ballet at the American Repertory Ballet Company, Princeton , NJ -- this lasted for 10 years. As a result of this intensive study Furst continues to be connected with dance combining her art (see Installations) and participating in 5Rhythms, an international dance movement, founded by Gabrielle Roth, 1978.
Today she resides and works in Lambertville, NJ with her partner and three children.
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Education
1986 - Bachelor of Fine Arts, summa cum laude, University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Group Exhibitions
September 2023 - Clio Art Fair, NYC
May 2023 - “ArtJam” Homefront Benefit, Princeton NJ
January 2023 - “As Above, So Below” With Intentions Gallery Lake Como, NJ
September 2022 - “Autumn Exhibition” Zuzu Gallery, Lawrenceville, NJ
May 2022 - “Love Is Love” Pride Gala, The Riverhouse, New Hope, PA
April 2022 - St. Regis Resort, Bali/Singulart Online Gallery group exhibition
November 2021 - “Portals” with Josh George, Kevin Parr, Lambertville NJ
April 2021 - “Unprecedented”Artsy https://www.artsy.net/gallery-gary-giordano
March 2021 - https://www.thewunderkammeroflilye.com/ Wales, United Kingdom
Ongoing from March 2020 - Singulart Online Gallery https://www.singulart.com Paris
November 2019 - “Suzanna and Me” Furst Gallery group holiday exhibition, Lambertville, NJ
September 2015 - “Naked in New Hope” Sidetracks Gallery, New Hope, PA
October 2014 - “Into the Mystic” PebbleHill Gallery, Doylestown, PA
October 2013 - “Art of Darkness” second place winner ARTWOKS, Trenton NJ
August 2009 - Slusser Gallery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
July 2009 - “The World As We See It” Arts Council of Princeton , Princeton, NJ
June 2008 - “Me in the Other Eye” Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton, NJ
June 2007 - “Apostles 13” Arts Council of Princeton, Princeton, NJ
Solo Exhibitions
May 2023 - “Tales from a Rose Garden” spring exhibition, Furst Gallery, Lambertville NJ
April 2020 - “Quarantine Flowers” benefit Fisherman’s Mark, Lambertville, NJ
April 2019 - “Living Saints” Stonybrook Millstone Watershed, Hopewell NJ
November 2017 - “Ritual” Soul Motion/Michael Molin-Skelton, Philadelphia, PA
September 2017 - “Tribe” Open Floor/Jenny Macke, Philadelphia, PA
August 2017 - “Integrating Lower and Higher Self” Azul/, Amara PaganoPlainfield, MA
March 2017 - “24 Gratitudes” Movement Medicine/Ya’Cov Darling Kahn, Philadelphia, PA
January 2017 - “Power of Intention” 5Rhythms/Adam Barley, Philadelphia, PA
September 2016 - “Six Doorways to Love” Azul/Amara Pagano, Plainfield, MA
February 2016 - “Explore, Express, Expand” 5Rhythms, Philadelphia, PA
November 2015 - “Begin Again” SoulMotion/Michael Molin-Skelton, Philadelphia, PA
November 2015 - “Nature’s Bride” Gallery at the Bank of Princeton, Lambertville, NJ
November 2015 - “Her Wings” SmallWorld, Princeton, NJ
September 2015 - “Living Fully, Loving Deeply” 5Rhythms/Amara Pagano, Philadelphia, PA
May 2015, “Open” 5Rhythms/Adam Barley, Philadelphia, PA
March 2015 - “Home” 5Rhythms/Kate Sheila, Philadelphia, PA
October 2014 - “Cycles” 5Rhythms/Jonathon Horan, Philadelphia, PA
Oct/Nov 2013 - “Night Garden” DIG Yoga, Lambertville, NJ
Sept 2012 - “Portraits” Small World, Princeton NJ
Spring 2012 - “Birth Memory Cycle” Artist’s Apiary, Camillo’s, Princeton, NJ
Spring 2011 - “Twelve Women” Dept of Gender and Sexuality, Princeton University
Winter 2011 - “Veiled Existence” Artist’s Apiary, Camillo’s, Princeton, NJ
May 2008 - Moynihan Gallery, Bronxville, NY