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Artist Susan Hensel



Susan Hensel (b. 1950, Ithaca, NY) is a multidisciplinary artist whose sculptural textile work merges digital and manual embroidery techniques with mixed-media practices. Her work investigates the interplay between light and material structure, with a particular focus on the optical properties of triangular embroidery thread. Conceptually, Hensel’s practice engages with the emotional and ecological dimensions of climate change, creating contemplative spaces that invite reflection and the imagining of restorative futures.


Hensel holds a BFA from the University of Michigan (1972). The artist participated in over 360 exhibitions, including more than 50 solo shows. In addition to her exhibitions across the United States, her work was exhibited in Mexico, Germany, Korea, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. Susan’s work was recognized with over 20 awards and supported by grants from the Jerome Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and Art to Change the World. She attended residencies at the Ragdale Foundation and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.


Her scheduled exhibitions in 2025 include solo presentations in Bemidji, MN, and Ames, IA, as well as group exhibitions in Ukraine, with the Textile Study Group of New York, and Artburst.com. Hensel’s work is held in over 30 public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art (NY), the Getty Research Institute, and the Garrett Museum of Art.


Her artist book archives are housed at the University of Washington Libraries in Seattle. She lives and works in Burnsville, Minnesota.





"Radical Beauty and Optical Structure: Innovations in Textile Form

I create innovative sculptural textile works that merge digital embroidery with mixed-media construction to investigate the physics of light, color, and perception. My practice transforms industrial embroidery—typically used for uniforms and novelty goods—into a medium of visual complexity and contemplative depth. The embroidery may be flat or sculptural, pictorial or abstract; it can stand alone or combine with other media to create a colorful, challenging visual experience. The innovation in these mixed-media textiles lies in material manipulation. Using trilobal polyester embroidery thread, I construct rigid, three-dimensional forms from soft components. These threads scatter light variably due to their triangular cross-section. I intensify the scatter by embedding permanent folds and wrinkles to produce shifting chromatic effects. A single shape, rendered in a single thread color, can appear to hold a broader palette, depending on lighting, viewer angle, and movement. No motors, no projections—just light, form, and the active gaze of the viewer. This visual instability is more than technical fascination—it is a tool for emotional and perceptual disruption. Viewers often pause, slightly confused and intrigued, trying to decipher what they see. This pause is crucial. It is a space for slowing down, for wonder, and for reflection. Inspired by John O’Donahue’s and others' writing on beauty, I situate this work within what I call a theory of radical beauty. O’Donahue wrote, “Even amidst chaos and disorder, something in the human mind continues to seek beauty.” In an era defined by climate crisis, political division, and cultural fatigue, I believe that beauty, true, disarming beauty, can still act as a catalyst—not in the decorative sense, but as an aesthetic encounter that invites presence, openness, and empathy. My artworks function as a quiet counterpoint to chaos, offering moments of stillness and sensory richness that can remind us of what is possible. This is not passive art. It is a proposition: that through awe and attentiveness, we can reawaken care for the world, for each other, and for the fragile systems that connect us all."





Tell us a little about yourself (where you are from) and your background in the arts.

I grew up in Ithaca, NY with sabbatical sojourns in Arlington, California and Hsinchu, Taiwan. The arts were always of fundamental value in our family. We attended the theater, concerts, and museums as available. My parents made it possible for me to study at Cornell University as a teenager with Wayne Thiebaud and to attend figure drawing studios. I studied in Perugia, Italy, in the summer before attending the University of Michigan, where I received a BFA in 1972 with a double major in sculpture and painting. I continued to live and work in Michigan until 2004.


I have continued to study throughout my career at places like Penland School of Craft and Haystack, as well as with local organizations and artists. I moved to Minnesota around 22 years ago to join the vibrant art community. I had been involved in bringing contemporary art to communities in Michigan through co-operative gallery spaces.


When I moved to Minnesota in 2004, I opened Susan Hensel Gallery, where I showed art and artists from all over the US and Canada. I retired the exhibition program after about 9 years to return to the studio full-time. However, I could not stay totally away from curating. During COVID, I chose a group of midwestern artists to represent on Artsy for a couple of years. I am lousy at sales, but quite good at PR. So each artist who showed with me left with press clippings, an exhibition on their resume, the offer of recommendation letters, and, often, a print catalog.


Things changed dramatically in 2022 when I broke my leg on that famous Minnesota Black Ice. It was a severe break that took away my mobility for a long time, forced a safety move and still requires a lot of work to maintain! But, I got a mighty nice studio out of it.


What kind of work are you currently making?

I am working on textile/ mixed media sculptural artworks that combine machine embroidery, plumbing parts, sometimes basketry materials, and heat transfer foils! My machinery has been on the fritz for a while, so I have been spending time developing new ideas from old stitch-outs. When the machine is working again, I will be working on more scroll pieces, 3 accordion pieces that use basketry cane, and other experiments that combine the embroidery with natural materials to soften the hard edges. The themes remain the role of beauty in producing awe, empathy, and action.


This is not passive art. It is a proposition that through awe and attentiveness, we can reawaken care for the world, for each other, and for the fragile systems that connect us all.


What is a day like in the studio for you?

Monday through Friday, I go to the studio around 10 am and work until 4 pm, with breaks for exercise class, medical appointments, etc. Saturday is a looser day, and most weeks, Sunday is a day of rest and renewal. Entirely too much of the studio time is spent on administration...as most exhibiting artists will tell you. Since the leg break, I have worked my way up to about half to three-quarters time, and I am OK with that.


Most mornings are spent on the computer, catching up on emails and proposals. After lunch, I try to be hands-on with materials. Once a piece is completed, it is photographed, titled, inventoried, and a box is built for it. I have a young assistant, one day per week, who builds boxes, handles some administrative tasks, brainstorms, and works hard on assigned data research! She is a wiz!.


We are working toward a large estate reduction project that includes an open studio event at my art storage facility for area curators, followed by a massive email campaign to place more of the newer work in institutions. It's a big project!


What are you looking at right now and/or reading?

I am studying Native American contemporary artists, world embroidery as both pattern and story, and reading a book of wonderful, short essays by Ross Gay: THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS


Where can we find more of your work? (ex. website/insta/gallery/upcoming shows)















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