SUSAN BUDGE

ECSTATIC TRANSCENDENCE

HEIDI VAUGHAN FINE ART is proud to present ECSTATIC TRANSCENDENCE, a solo exhibition featuring stoneware, bronze, and cast stainless steel sculptures by Susan Budge. The artist's work can be found in public spaces and the permanent collections of major museums across America. This is Budge’s fourth solo show presented at HVFA. The exhibition opens Saturday, December 6, 2025, at 3510 Lake St., Houston, TX 77098, in Houston's oldest Gallery Row. Doors open at 11. The artist’s reception and holiday party is from 5 to 8.

Budge has been a successful visual artist for more than 40 years. Inspiration for ECSTATIC TRANSCENDENCE comes straight from her subconscious. According to Budge, "Touching clay for the first time was my epiphany. The physical, sensual, direct qualities of this material continue to challenge me. My preference is to work spontaneously in the studio allowing subconscious thoughts to surface. This process brings ecstatic transformation through accessing the unconscious. Integrating fragmented aspects of the psyche allows for the creation of authentic works reflecting many influences. My experiences with primitive art, Native American art, the Surrealists, Ernst, Kandinsky, Brancusi, and the elements of nature all inform the sculptures that evolve. The process of building, carving, cutting, polishing, and firing radiate the physical energy and elemental forces used to create the final forms. The feelings I experience during the creative process vary with euphoria being the most prominent. I enjoy the use of paradox, balancing strength and fragility through technique and material."

Susan Budge received a BFA in Fine Art from Texas Tech University in 1983, an MA in Fine Art from the University of Houston in 1987, and an MFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 1999. She has completed public art commissions for Brackenridge Park and Lady Bird Johnson Park in San Antonio, among many others. Her work has been included in hundreds of exhibitions throughout the United States. Budge's sculptures are part of corporate and private collections around the world, such as Wyatt Energy and Saks Fifth Avenue. Her work is collected as far away as the United Kingdom, Australia, Greece, and Saudi Arabia, and can be seen in museum collections including the Smithsonian, the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Honolulu Museum of Art, the San Antonio Museum of Art, and the Art Museum of South Texas, among others. Her 30 year teaching career began with Artist in Education Grants from the Texas Commission on the Arts. In 1995, she became Department Head of Ceramics at San Antonio College, where she earned tenure, was awarded the NISOD Excellence in Teaching Award, and established an endowed ceramics scholarship fund prior to retirement in 2015. Budge lives at her art ranch outside Houston with her rockstar husband, Rick Paulson.