Susie Ganch is a first generation American artist of Hungarian heritage. She is a sculptor, jeweler, educator, and founder and director of Radical Jewelry Makeover.
The labor-intensive, site-specific installations of Susie Ganch (born 1970 in Appleton, WI; lives and works in Richmond, VA) incorporate throwaway materials such as recycled jewelry, plastic bags, and disposable coffee cup lids. Her work offers a pointed commentary on the effects of human culture and consumption on the environment.
Ganch’s art exemplifies a belief in a circular economy that operates like a natural ecosystem, promoting the use of existing and finite resources sparingly and expanding recycling exponentially. The idea put forth is that if we use less, use things longer, and recycle as much as possible, we can eventually eliminate trash by not creating it.
Trained as a jeweler and metalsmith, Ganch says of her recent work, “Trading metal for plastic, a ubiquitous symbol that celebrates our worship of the present and disregard for the future, I make antimemorials born out of eco-anxiety.”
Ganch's undergraduate studies in Geology and her subsequent MFA in Metals from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have shaped her interest in issues of waste and cultural consumption habits. In addition to her studio work, Ganch has been commissioned for large-scale installations throughout the country, the most recent at Sweet Briar College (Amherst, VA) that address these concerns. In that same vein, Ganch is the co-founder and director of the Radical Jewelry Makeover project, a global jewelry mining and recycling initiative that has traveled worldwide.
Ganch’s art exemplifies a belief in a circular economy that operates like a natural ecosystem, promoting the use of existing and finite resources sparingly and expanding recycling exponentially. The idea put forth is that if we use less, use things longer, and recycle as much as possible, we can eventually eliminate trash by not creating it.
Trained as a jeweler and metalsmith, Ganch says of her recent work, “Trading metal for plastic, a ubiquitous symbol that celebrates our worship of the present and disregard for the future, I make antimemorials born out of eco-anxiety.”
Ganch's undergraduate studies in Geology and her subsequent MFA in Metals from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have shaped her interest in issues of waste and cultural consumption habits. In addition to her studio work, Ganch has been commissioned for large-scale installations throughout the country, the most recent at Sweet Briar College (Amherst, VA) that address these concerns. In that same vein, Ganch is the co-founder and director of the Radical Jewelry Makeover project, a global jewelry mining and recycling initiative that has traveled worldwide.