“When all is said and done, I see the most important thing I have to offer is my art, which is an act of meditation between myself and the awesome mystery of creation.”
— Richard Yarde
Susan Montgomery's Artist Statement
Women’s agency is the central theme in my work. I am drawn to the blurred boundaries between historical facts, rumors, memories, and myths, particularly how women’s lives and stories are preserved — or erased. Archival research is essential to my process, as historical documents shape our collective memory. These records are complex, powerful, and often dangerous, especially when certain voices are excluded. Along with women’s agency, the themes of plants and poison are woven throughout the work. I am particularly drawn to herbarium specimens — harvested, pressed, and stored plants. Suspended between preservation and decay, these specimens mirror how women’s histories are recorded, forgotten, or reclaimed.
The dual nature of plants fascinates me. They can nourish and heal, yet also induce illness, madness, and death — nowhere more vividly embodied than in the Datura flower. This tension between beauty and danger runs throughout my work. By juxtaposing women’s stories with poisonous plants, I use botanical motifs to explore the dualities of nature and human experience. Just as plants can heal or harm, history itself has the power to illuminate or obscure.
Statement on Richard Yarde’s art, courtesy of R. Michaelson Galleries, Northampton
Richard strongly believed in the transformative power of art. He was an artist of singular vision whose paintings resonate deeply with so many. His work weaves together personal narratives and cultural histories, often rooted in African American history and culture, as well as investigations into the physicality and spirituality of healing. He expanded the possibilities of the watercolor medium, pushing its boundaries with boldly painted saturated colors often painted on a large scale. His approach paved the way for future watercolor painters, challenging us to reconsider this often-underestimated medium's expressive and technical limits.
Based in Leverett, Montgomery works primarily in painting and drawing, exploring the presentation of women in history, culture, and communal memory. Her subjects include heroes, decried antiheroes, and literary protagonists such as the Radium Girls, Maria Sklodowska-Curie, Hester Prynne, Pope Joan, and Mary Bliss Parsons, the accused witch of Northampton, MA.
Montgomery teaches drawing at Smith College’s Department of Art. She is a recipient of the Blanche E. Coleman Award, Mellon Foundation support, and a Sustainable Artist Foundation grant. Her work has been exhibited at the Fuller Craft Museum, Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History, Historic Northampton Museum, and the Trustman Gallery at Simmons College.
Richard Yarde (1939-2011), born in Boston and later based in Northampton, was a major presence in the New England art world from the 1960s and onward. His work weaves together personal narrative and African American cultural histories, characterized by boldly painted, saturated colors painted on a large scale canvas.
A highly regarded art professor at UMass from 1990 until his death in 2011, Yarde was a mentor to generations of young artists. Yarde’s paintings have been featured in solo and group exhibitions nationwide and are held in nearly three dozen public permanent collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Smithsonian American Art Museum; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.