“Utopian Illusion,” by Susan Groce, graphite on paper
“Utopian Illusion,” by Susan Groce, graphite on paper
Susan Groce’s drawings have a weight to them. Is it their serious demeanor — is it because they are black and white? There’s a careful perfection in these otherworldly architectural “landscapes” that seem to offer up a different reality. Her new exhibit includes other drawings with a more playful feel, but the architectural “landscapes” still dominate.

She says of her work, “The fragility of the environment has been a consistent and rather illusive subject in my work over the past 30 years. 

“I’m interested in breaking the rules of common physical and spatial sense — illusionary forms defying laws of gravity — rising, falling, curving away at nonsensical angles, or appearing and disappearing out of, or from, nowhere, or perhaps ending abruptly in mid-air; creating forms/spaces that are tantalizingly perfect, that bridge possibilities magical and real, creating a space where anything can be or perhaps where the unexpected might happen.”

Groce is a professor of art teaching drawing and printmaking at the University of Maine. Her prints and drawings are included in collections worldwide. 

Her graphite drawings are on view at Jonathan Frost Gallery in Rockland through Saturday, August 31.