Hidden Children: a series of figurative paintings by Susan G. Scott

Hidden Children series

selection

Hidden Children is a series of very small egg tempera paintings on panels. The paintings are a response to the accounts by those who survived the Holocaust of WWII because, as children, they were sent into hiding. The exact number of hidden survivors spanning the breadth of Europe is unknown.

Charlotte Solomon’s (1917-1943) gouache drawings have long been an influence in my work. She was sent to France to live in hiding with her grandparents. After her location was divulged by an informant she was killed in Auschwitz in 1943. Solomon left behind a suite of over 800 works on paper Life? Or Theatre? that chronicle her days as an art student in Germany and her subsequent life in hiding in France.

Children played a significant role in my earlier narrative series as well as in my landscapes. When my own children were very young, as a person of Jewish Heritage, I often thought of what it would have been like for them to live in hiding. I created a series of sketches for Hidden Children over 10 years ago, but it was not until the pandemic with its near daily reminders of what it means for children to live a life limited to proscribed spaces, that I felt compelled to delve into this difficult subject matter.

I chose to work with egg tempera because this historical medium is a metaphorical reflection on both fragility and strength. Working on such a small scale with an unfamiliar and measured technique provided enough emotional distance to pursue this narrative. SGS