\nI\u2019m a map geek going way back to childhood. Geography was my window to the world. I studied and drew maps as a kid, then studied Geography at UC Santa Barbara and then landed a dream job as a cartographer at UCLA. Concurrently with my fascination with maps I avidly drew, painted, and designed all sorts of things such as houses, schools, high school floats, logos, comics and so on.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a relentlessly visual person, much like my parents. My dad designed newspaper advertising and my mom was a clothes buyer for a department store. Both of them were invested in the importance, meaning and impact of all things visual. They made me think critically about how things were composed, what they represented and their impact.<\/p>\n My art is born out of my cartography. My early work had specific geographic forms and has evolved into abstraction with my visual language still echoing my cartographic past.<\/p>\n While I was at UCLA my interest and efforts in painting intensified. I was painting after work and all through the weekends. My painting career grew and really took off in 2008 when I had a large show at the architecture firm Gensler, which at that time was located in Santa Monica. At the opening, I had two prominent art dealers approach me about representation.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.susaneleyfineart.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Langford-and-Eley-450x300.jpg\")