Suzi Grossman
MFA ’26 Photography
Paper Ecologies
There is no biological definition of a weed. Weeds are a social construct: plants that grow by themselves where people do not want them to grow. I walk around my neighborhood and collect weeds from cracks in the sidewalk and vacant lots. These plants find ways to grow in locations of disturbance.
My work forms a composting ecosystem: I am constantly making and re-making, the results of one effort becoming the material for the next, playing with the lines between image and object.
My process is rooted in the medium of the cyanotype. I photograph during the murky green stage, before water turns the paper blue. I use the cyanotypes to create laser-cut paper sculptures, freeing the plant from the flat plane, and re-photograph the sculptures, flattening them back out. Processes loop back and intertwine, with no clear beginning or end. This layered way of working reflects the cyanotype process itself, and mirrors how meaning accumulates in language through layers of repetition, history, and context. At its core, my process is an embodied attempt to know these plants and their place in the web of life.
I am currently working with three plants that are considered to be invasive species: Japanese Knotweed, Tree of Heaven, and Black Swallow-wort. Our society has a complicated relationship with invasive species and their colonialist histories. I invite you to walk with me through the tensions that arise around these plants and in finding space for layered and nuanced investigations.
Suzi Grossman is a multidisciplinary artist working in photography, cyanotype, sculpture, and bookmaking, whose practice is deeply informed by a love of nature. Grossman holds a BFA from SMFA and a BA in English Literature from Tufts. They recently published the photobook Naturalized, which was featured in the Griffin Museum’s 15th Annual Photobook Exhibition 2025, and was included in the PRC’s Exposure 2025 Exhibition. They live in Somerville, MA.
