Since 1971, artist and writer Susan Moss has had three studios in Eagle Rock, where she paints, draws and writes. Her latest studio, nestled next to Oxy Arts on York Boulevard, has led to a fruitful relationship between Occidental and the local arts scene that cements a history beyond the studio’s own lifetime.
“I can’t say enough good things about Oxy,” Moss said. “Even when I wasn’t in this studio I would use the swimming pool, I would use the library, I would run on the track. I showed my work there, I gave a lecture there. Oxy was like a second home even before I came here, to this space.”
According to Frankie Fleming, manager of education and community programs at Oxy Arts, it’s a relationship that has bloomed symbiotically.
“We at Oxy Arts have been in touch with Susan Moss as a neighbor since the college first purchased the building, and the relationship grew more after we moved in and opened our doors in 2019,” Fleming said via email. “We talk to Susan most days, and she warmly welcomed us into her space to learn about her art and see her incredible studio.”
Moss, a Chicago native, moved to Reno at six and earned a dual honors degree in art and psychology from the University of Nevada. Diagnosed with breast and uterine cancer 35 years ago, she credits art for her recovery, chronicled in her book “Keep Your Breasts.”
“I’ve always done art; since I was two years old,” Moss said. “When I was a child my parents fought a lot so I would go in my corner and color as my therapy and as an escape. It’s still my mantra today. I do art because I have to do it for my own preservation.”
According to Om Bleicher, director of bG Gallery, Moss’ use of materials contributed to her illness. She has had to find workarounds in her production methods to retain her lyrical style.
“The work has changed, absolutely,” Bleicher said. “She was using rhoplex, which is the acrylic binding in acrylic paint and then mixing in a pigment so it was a translucent sort of paint that she was using with this new medium she was able to add some of that transparency that she had in the rhoplex, but it was in a very different way.”
Bleicher said that their relationship started when she came to their La Brea gallery to show her work.
“It was a long time ago, I could see she was one of those great overlooked artists in history and we did a big show for her and put her back on the map,” Bleicher said. “At the time [Moss was overlooked] because she had a break and women artists weren’t as seen; then she came back and has done some solo shows with us and she is definitely back in the scene now.”
Moss said she has exhibited her works all over the world, and that she now has 565 collectors, including six museums. While her outreach is vast, she said that she has a special love for California.
“I love California,” Moss said. “I love the light; I love the trees and the green and the sun and the laid back, I don’t think I would have that in New York because there is too much cement there, for me.”
Due to the pandemic, Moss was often confined to her studio, which led to a new uptake in her drawing, and a new relationship with OxyArts.
“I would come down here and just draw, it was very therapeutic for me to do that because I’m kind of a loner and like to be alone in the studio,” Moss said. “I started doing drawings because I couldn’t use any paint since I was sick so I blew up my drawings to make them even bigger.”
Moss said she loves creating on large canvases, up to eight feet tall, using full body movements with brushes on long sticks. She said she credits her assistants and community for inspiring her creative process. Moss said Blue Reinhard ’23 currently assists her, whom she met through Oxy Arts.
“Blue is working on an Andrew W. Mellon Grant that they provided,” Moss said. “Coming out of the pandemic I had a hip injury and couldn’t walk so they provided me with an assistant that I don’t have to pay until I get back on my feet.”
According to Moss, the time spent during the pandemic and recovering from her hip injury left her in financial trouble. She said it’s something an artist comes to expect, but it requires a certain kind of hustle: the kind that nets you buyers like Deana Martin, daughter of ‘Rat Pack’ legend Dean Martin, and famed Passadena art collector Robert A. Rowan.
“It’s feast or famine. You get a big sale: you think you’re set for life and then the money runs out and then you wonder how you’re gonna do it,” Moss said.
Looking to the future, Fleming said Oxy Arts plans to continue tending their relationship with Moss and the rest of the art community.
“I imagine that in the future we will continue to partner with Susan and find ways to support her as our neighbor,” Fleming said. “We hope that Susan will continue painting and being in her studio for years to come, and we will keep finding ways that Oxy students and our staff can help out.”
Moss’ studio is located at 4767 York Blvd.
Contact Will White at wwhite@oxy.edu
