Susannah Hays

While she is especially known for cameraless and 19th Century processes, her creative work expands to realms of experimentation in all visual media. Her seminar courses focus on the practice of art and ecology, embodied mind cognition, space constructions, topologies and visual autobiography.

• Name — Susannah Hays • Born — 1959 • Birthplace — Boston, Massachusetts • Education — Mills College, San Francisco Art Institute, University of California, Berkeley • Occupation — Artist, educator – photography

Hays was born in Boston Massachusetts (twin brother John Hays) and lived in Connecticut until 1978, when she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to attend Mills College. She received a BA in American Studies from Mills College, and an MFA in Photography from San Francisco Art Institute. Her MA in Visual Studies and PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies were completed at the University of California, Berkeley. While earning her MA, she was awarded the Eisner Prize for Photography. At the Art Institute, she studied with Doug Hall and Ann Chamberlain. At U.C. Berkeley she studied with philosopher Alva Nöe, poet Lyn Hejinian, painter Tony Dubovsky, filmmaker Trinh T. Minh-ha and digital media artist Greg Niemeyer. In 2012, she moved from Berkeley to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she currently resides.

From 1990 to 2012 Hays was the sole proprietor of Works on Paper, a paper conservation laboratory specializing in the preservation of photographs and the production of Artist's books. From 1991 to 1997 she was married to painter Matt Phillips, with whom she collaborated artistically. In 1996, she curated the national exhibition Science Imagined for the Berkeley Art Center and in 2007 Zero In Zero Out for Donna Seager Gallery. She joined the faculty of the San Francisco Art Institute from 2002 to 2012 and has also taught at California College of the Arts, University of California Berkeley, San Francisco Center for the Book, Shenkar College of Art and Design in Ramat Gan, Israel, Leuphana Universität in Lüneburg Germany, and Santa Fe University of Art and Design. She is currently contributing faculty at The University of Georgia Study Abroad Program in Cortona, Italy. Her work has been included in numerous solo and group exhibitions and featured in various articles and reviews such as the New Mexico Museum of Art, Directly from Nature; Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Verniciatura; None-Such Space, Nature Word ~ Verbe Nature; Townsend Center for the Humanities, Everyday Constellations; and Artists Television Access, Penumbra.