Suzanne Sullivan: The Wilderness of Mirrors

Suzanne Sullivan's installation of new hand-built porcelain works by the artist takes its name from an infamous memo by James Angleton, the CIA’s notorious chief of counter-espionage, who described spy operations as a “wilderness of mirrors”. About “In a wilderness of mirrors. What will the spider do…” (T.S. Eliot’s Gerontion) In the Gallery at Brooklyn Metal Works is pleased to announce Suzanne Sullivan’s solo exhibition, The Wilderness of Mirrors . On view April 18th to June 7th, this installation of new hand-built porcelain works by the artist takes its name from an infamous memo by James Angleton, the CIA’s notorious Cold War-era chief of counter-espionage, who described spy operations as a “wilderness of mirrors” – “that myriad of stratagems, deceptions, artifices … an ever fluid landscape where fact and illusion merge.” In making these pieces, Sullivan has stepped into the world of double agents and clandestine operatives, of secret codes and paranoia. Sullivan revels in the surreal and foggy atmosphere of spies, the setting in which one is able to fluidly maneuver between the practical and the make-believe. Enigmas and chaos, clues and games to solve: the vernacular of espionage allows Sullivan to play with the questions that inspire her practice and to rethink her work’s allegiances. Is this useful? Is this just for fun? What is real? What is surreal? With her signature fantastical porcelain creations, Sullivan has crafted her own wilderness of mirrors for both reflection and interrogation. Read more Toggle Sculpture