The grass is running in the wind
Without a sound,
Crouching and smooth and fast
Along the ground.
The clouds run too,
And little shadows play
And scurry in the grass
That will not stay,
But runs and runs, until
The wind is still.

(Field in the wind, Floris McLaren)

Uprise Art is pleased to present Field in the wind, a solo exhibition of new work by Scott Sueme. Titled after McLaren’s poem, the exhibition draws from the writer’s evocative urging for intentional and active examination of our surroundings, particularly the overlooked elements of nature, which are often taken for

granted. Through paintings, assemblages, and works on paper, Sueme explores artmaking as a form of record- keeping, using pictographic and geometric glyphs to capture fleeting moments with intentional observation.

Sueme’s series Raw data began in 2023 during his Uprise Art x MacArthur Residency in Sonoma. In these works on paper, he creates a gridded composition of nine cells, with each rectangle containing a solitary symbol painted in matte Flashe and vibrant acrylic. Extracted from their natural origins, these symbols are pulled into Sueme’s painted lexicon. The series as a whole functions both as individual moments, as well as a larger interconnected story that examines the cyclical nature of life, growth, and regeneration on an anatomical and ecological level. These individual vignettes act as seeds, pollinating larger ideas that manifest across the exhibition.

The eponymous painting of the show, Field in the wind, and its smaller companion Even Greener, feature meticulously painted blades of grass that blend into pure pattern, punctuated only by the occasional daisy. As a newer intervention in his primarily abstract painting practice, the introduction of the symbols in Raw Data, as well as the flowers in these grass paintings, offer a directness amongst introspection—a point of tension and release as seen in the cycle of a flower’s bloom.

Field in the wind is an ecosystem, representing the rhythms of growth, and renewal that shape both the natural world and Sueme’s evolving practice. Just as a field is in constant motion - grasses bending with the wind, seasons shifting with time - his works capture a sense of impermanence, where symbols, patterns, and fragments build upon one another to form something larger. Through collaged compositions and recurring motifs, Sueme invites us to engage in the act of noticing - to find meaning in quiet details, to observe the familiar anew, and to recognize the interconnectedness of all things.