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Last modified: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 3:22 PM CDT
Capitol stacked with regional artwork
by Erin C. Hevern • Daily News
Childhood memories are the inspiration behind the paintings of Lidgerwood native Sue Morrissey, whose pieces are now being featured in the offices of Gov. John Hoeven (R-ND) and First Lady Mikey Hoeven.
The art work is also posted in the Attorney General's first floor office and will appear at the Capitol Building in Bismarck through September. The display is sponsored by the North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA), who along with Hoeven and the First Lady select new artists to be featured on a quarterly basis.
"It's a great way to showcase the talent of so many great artists across the state," said Mikey Hoeven in a phone interview Tuesday. "Every three months it's fun to walk in the office and have a completely different look."
As a child growing up in the 1940s and 1950s, Morrissey recalls drawing with a stick lines in the dirt and configuring cardboard boxes into little pieces of art to pass the time.
Her artistry continued through high school and led her to pursue an art degree at the University of North Dakota, a Master's degree at the University of Louisville, K.Y. and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree at Indiana University.
"My work most often reflects what is happening about me," Morrissey said. "Observation is my inspiration, be it of human relationship, animal behavior, or political climate."
Morrissey's work also reflects the joy she finds in humor. She tries to maintain a level of playfulness in her work, whether it be creating a light or serious image.
"My work imagines a broad spectrum of emotion, from contentedness to anxiety. The viewer can usually fill in the blanks," Morrissey said.
Morrissey, who now resides in Valley City with her husband, Michael, is also a printmaker and houses her studio with materials that allow her to create two and three dimensional projects.
"She does some very interesting work and in reading her bio her work is a way of expressing her life journey," Hoeven said. "Her pieces are larger and I typically like the larger pieces, I have larger walls in my office."
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