Bio
Susanne Aaltonen (she/her) is a Canadian artist currently living and working in Calgary, Alberta. She received her BFA from the Alberta College of Art + Design (now Alberta University of the Arts) in 2016. In 2017 she was part of the Banff Artist in Residence for Emerging Artists at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Her work is included in numerous private collections, and is a part of the permanent collection of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. She is represented by Paul Kuhn Gallery in Calgary.
Artist Statement
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I used to wonder how I would feel throughout the process of removing myself. Growing up, I became familiar with the low, constant hum of fear and anxiety just beneath the surface. I learned to stay silent, to avoid drawing attention, to disappear. For many years, I buried those feelings, pushing them into forgotten and hollow spaces within myself, afraid of what they held.
My ongoing body of work has allowed me to unearth and explore these forgotten places. While the work initially focused on familial relationships, it has since shifted inward, turning toward myself. Using family photographs as a starting point, the physical acts of sanding, carving, and scratching through the surface become both meditative rituals and methods of excavation — a way to understand traumatic periods and my own responses to them.​
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CV
EDUCATION
2016 Bachelor of Fine Arts with Distinction (Drawing Major), Alberta College of Art + Design (now Alberta University of the Arts), Calgary, Canada
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
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2024 Coming up for air, Paul Kuhn Gallery, Calgary
2021 a constant internal vibration, Paul Kuhn Gallery, Calgary
2019 From Mustasaari, Paul Kuhn Gallery, Calgary
2019 Susanne Aaltonen: Knowing How Little I Need Her Now, Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, Banff, AB
2018 Dear Aino, Arts Commons, Calgary
2016 Home is No Longer Home, Marion Nicoll Gallery, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2016 Hand Pic’d 2016, Barbara Edwards Contemporary, Calgary
2016 Did I tell you how I felt inside and out? (Sled Island 2016), Marion Nicoll Gallery, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary
2016 From Here to There, New Edward Gallery, Calgary, Canada.
2016 National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) Site Visit Student Exhibition, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary
2016 A Space Ship is Just a Time Machine, Untitled Contemporary Art, Calgary
2015 Community Show V, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary
RESIDENCIES
2017 Banff Artist in Residence (BAiR) Emerging, The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Canada
SCHOLARSHIPS/AWARDS
2017 Flair Foundation Artist Award
2016 Board of Governors Graduating Student Award for Drawing, Calgary, Canada
2016 ACAD Fourth Year Drawing Major Merit Scholarship, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary
2016 Ignac & Karla Herskovic Memorial Grad Show Prize, Calgary, Canada
2016 BMO 1st Art! Prize Nominee
2015 Jason Lang Scholarship, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, Canada
2015 ACAD Third Year Drawing Major Merit Scholarship, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary
2014 Jason Lang Scholarship, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, Canada
PUBLISHED PROJECTS
2016 Aaltonen, Susanne. Do you remember? 2016. Print.
2014 Beaulieu, Derek. Re:Comp. No Press, 2014. 22-23. Print.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2019 The Cairn, "Susanne Aaltonen: Knowing How Little I Need Her Now", Anne Ewen, Volume 2 Issue 5
2019 Rocky Mountain Outlook, ""Banff's Whyte Museum puts on art exhibit surrounding themes of then and now", Alana Macleod
COLLECTIONS
Alberta Foundation for the Arts