Susan Krueger-Barber as Art Grrrrl.

“I am constantly trying to better understand—and if need be, reconfigure, subvert, or topple—accepted and repressive systems, ranging from the design of a street to the systemic oppression throughout society,” says Provo artist Susan Krueger-Barber, who holds an MFA in Studio Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She does this through performance and installation work, whether its shoveling snow off fifty miles of her neighbor’s sidewalks or writing a musical to roast important artists.

The best part of 2018 for Susan? That’s easy — the two months her family spent in Europe while her husband co-taught a study abroad program in London. Narrowing that experience down to something more specific is a little more difficult — was it devouring Niederegger marzipan ice cream and hot chocolate every day for a week in the old town city arcades of Luebeck; visiting the Tate Modern; or watching the changing light in Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia in Barcelona? Or — an artist/urban planner geek’s fantasy — the converted train station/contemporary art museum? Or maybe the best thing was being in Berlin as it “stares into the mirrored past of its troubled century” as she puts it?

“My memory is filled with the four of us riding the Tube, U and S-Bahns, biking both nature trails and city streets, taking roller-coaster double-decker bus trips, and a few (one very exhausting) train rides. Then we’d race walk to all the sites, smells, and tastes of the cities. We loved it!”

Explore the artist’s work at susankruegerbarber.com.

Susan, with husband Brad, in front of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia.

Best Of (2018) curated by Emily Larsen

15 Bytes

UTAH’S ART MAGAZINE SINCE 2001, 15 Bytes is published by Artists of Utah, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.