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Sculptor Susan Wallace Turns Screen Doors Into Art
No more boring screen doors! Texas metal artist creates unique grillwork for doors, windows and public spaces
Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia. I've been writing about design online for quite a few years over at Hatch: The Design Public Blog.
Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta... More »
A few weeks ago we were taken with an amazing sculptural door we saw on a Houzz tour had to know more about the artist who designed it. This led us to Austin sculptor Susan Wallace, who specializes in working with aluminum and creates beautiful, one-of-a-kind custom screen doors as well as prominent public art projects.
After receiving an MFA in sculpture, Wallace landed a job working in the model shop at the University of Texas School of Architecture, which led to teaching first-year design.
One day she was complaining to a colleague about the boring options she had to choose from for her own screen door. "Well, you're an artist," he said, "make one!" This led to a unique screen door with a spiderweb design on it, which led to another architecture professor commissioning her to create a door for a project, and a design star was born.
After receiving an MFA in sculpture, Wallace landed a job working in the model shop at the University of Texas School of Architecture, which led to teaching first-year design.
One day she was complaining to a colleague about the boring options she had to choose from for her own screen door. "Well, you're an artist," he said, "make one!" This led to a unique screen door with a spiderweb design on it, which led to another architecture professor commissioning her to create a door for a project, and a design star was born.
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| Wallace was originally brought in to design this door for this efficient and artful home by architect Stuart Sampley for The Austin Design Build Alliance. |
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by Susan Wallace
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| The screen door in the previous photo led to the commissioning of this slider in the same house, created with negatives of the pattern of the first door. At night, the glow from the master bedroom shines through the cut-out pattern in the steel door and throws dynamic shadows onto the deck. See the rest of this L-shaped house |
by Susan Wallace
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This door brought Wallace back to her door-designing roots. The owners had two small boys who loved superheroes, and they lent Wallace a beloved Spiderman book for inspiration. This became her point of departure to create "the best, most dynamic spiderweb." The design is not too superhero-specific, as Wallace says "the kids will grow up, but the door will last forever."
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by Susan Wallace
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| "My designs do not block the view," Wallace explains. "They create shadows from any kind of direct natural light or ambient light; here the angle of the sun skews the shadows throughout the day, while the porch light transforms them at night." |
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Landing this door project was fortuitous. "I've been coveting this house for 37 years; it's a beautiful iconic home that I admired every time I passed it," says Wallace. "When I arrived to meet the client, I couldn't believe I had the opportunity to work on it ... it was a real treat."
Wallace's process for creating a design starts with the house, both indoors and out. "I observe their home, their possessions, and how they inhabit it." This information is interpreted into her designs, which begin with a sketch. The drawings are then enlarged to scale; she creates the metal work on top of them using pegs on a table.
Wallace's process for creating a design starts with the house, both indoors and out. "I observe their home, their possessions, and how they inhabit it." This information is interpreted into her designs, which begin with a sketch. The drawings are then enlarged to scale; she creates the metal work on top of them using pegs on a table.
by Susan Wallace
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"This is the cutest little stone house, which sits on a hill set in a covey of Spanish oak trees," Wallace explains. "The place has the most incredible vibe."
She persuaded the owner/friend that celebrating the oak leaves was paramount, and that having the design "drip down" from the top of the door to the bottom was the way to go, as the tree branches hang over the house.
Wallace is always up for exploring and finding solutions to tricky fabrications. Here, the design created what Wallace dubbed "an interesting challenge ... my metal likes to go in curves and arcs, not hectic lines."
She persuaded the owner/friend that celebrating the oak leaves was paramount, and that having the design "drip down" from the top of the door to the bottom was the way to go, as the tree branches hang over the house.
Wallace is always up for exploring and finding solutions to tricky fabrications. Here, the design created what Wallace dubbed "an interesting challenge ... my metal likes to go in curves and arcs, not hectic lines."
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by Susan Wallace
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| While clients often give her free reign, these homeowners — both graphic artists — provided her with three postcards of work from their favorite graphic artists. This gave Wallace a point of departure; she provided them with three designs to chose from, and this one was the clear winner. |
by Susan Wallace
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Wallace's doors are usually asymmetrical. This "Circle Mode" design provides a dynamic composition that stands up to the rectangles around it. While Wallace does the metal work, she most often relies on John Hindman of Red River Restorations to fabricate the architectural doors. They are made of Spanish cedar, a wood that doesn't react to humidity and is very stable (so stable, in fact, it is used on cigar boxes). Collaborating with architects, craftsmen, installers, planners and other artists is a rewarding part of her work.
by Susan Wallace
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This door belongs to a gingerbread house built in 1890. Wallace studied the ornamentation inside the house and out, and the result is this symmetrical design that updates the 100+-year-old details in a contemporary way.
This is an interesting analogy to Wallace's work, which which a client described as "blending 19th-century craftsmanship with 21st-century aesthetic."
This is an interesting analogy to Wallace's work, which which a client described as "blending 19th-century craftsmanship with 21st-century aesthetic."
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This obelisk is part of The East 7th Street Revitalization Project, a public art project in Austin. Eight of them line the main drag from the airport into town, creating a gateway into Austin.
Wallace's obelisk corresponds to the cardinal points, and each panel responds to the surrounding landscape in its color and pattern. Blue faces the river, orange faces the sunset, green faces the farmland to the east and purple faces the urban core of Austin.
Wallace's obelisk corresponds to the cardinal points, and each panel responds to the surrounding landscape in its color and pattern. Blue faces the river, orange faces the sunset, green faces the farmland to the east and purple faces the urban core of Austin.
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by Susan Wallace
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| To come up with her designs, Wallace circled the 3-4 blocks of surrounding area, documenting the grillwork, pottery designs, and other ornamental elements from yards and homes in the area. She then picked four of these archeological drawings and took a slice from each for a corresponding panel. The metalwork sits about 3/16" off the powdercoated aluminum panels, capturing the changing effects of the resulting shadows created by the metalwork. |
by Susan Wallace
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Believe it or not, this project came from Wallace's annoyance at the salon! "The joint beam on this skylight was a little bit off and it drove me nuts!" laughs Wallace. Having completed several projects with the salon owner in the past, she came up with 12 drawings to show her, all of which fooled the eye and took the focus off the skewed beam.
"This design functions a lot like my doors, because it's in the foreground," says Wallace.
"This design functions a lot like my doors, because it's in the foreground," says Wallace.
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by Susan Wallace
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| The circles are created by bending the metal around pegs on a table. Though they may look like it, none of the shapes are true circles. |
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| This tree of life design at the University of Texas Department of Human Ecology begins 5' off the floor and extends another 15' high and 22' wide. "Because children age 3-5 pass by it on their way to the child development lab, a video was made of the installation project so that they could see the making of the wall in perpetuity," says Wallace. Watch the process of designing and installing this work |
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by Susan Wallace
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| The sculpture functions as a fundraiser. The copper glass leaves are engraved with the names of those who make donations to an endowed professorship. |
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| Here Susan up on her work table, creating a section of the Tree of Life. |
by Susan Wallace
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The UT project led to this Wall of Roses at Delta Kappa Gamma, an international society for women educators. The installation was quite a challenge, as the wall extends up a stairwell and is made of solid concrete.
A system of magnets solves the issue of adding donor leaves over time. The darker green leaves are permanently attached to the wall, and as donations come in, a lighter-colored glass leaf with the donor's name on it adheres to the base leaf via magnetic backing.
A system of magnets solves the issue of adding donor leaves over time. The darker green leaves are permanently attached to the wall, and as donations come in, a lighter-colored glass leaf with the donor's name on it adheres to the base leaf via magnetic backing.
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by Susan Wallace
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| This door's design was created for an organic chicken farm. It was derived from their logo, which incorporated a sunburst, a chicken, and a Texas star. "I opened my studio in 2001 and I've been very humbled by getting to do what I love," says Wallace. "Everybody thinks their door is the best door!" |
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Susan at work on her latest project, MStation. The project has not been photographed yet, but we hope to share it with you in the future.
See more of Susan Wallace's work and find her contact information
More:
Interview: Ceramic Art Goes Vertical
Interview: Creating Space With Art
Interview: The Wonderful World of Thomas Wold
See more of Susan Wallace's work and find her contact information
More:
Interview: Ceramic Art Goes Vertical
Interview: Creating Space With Art
Interview: The Wonderful World of Thomas Wold
Ideabook published on Dec. 7, 2011.
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