Susan Hoffman Fishman: Difference between revisions

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In the 1980s Fishman exhibited widely, combining mixed media and narrative imagery to examine social change. A 1988 review noted her “consistent progress and a respectable maintenance of cutting-edge content,” describing her paintings as both experimental and political.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Schwendenwein |first=Jude |title=Works by Susan Hoffman Fishman, Francine Gintoff, and Nancy Iddings |journal=Art New England |volume=9 |issue=5 |date=May 1988 |pages=45–46}}</ref> In 1987 and 1988 ”The New York Times”’ coverage placed her among artists addressing social themes and civic engagement.<ref>{{cite news |last=Zimmer |first=William |title=Art; Winners’ Works in Hartford |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1987/02/22/170887.html?pageNumber=121 |work=The New York Times |date=February 22, 1987 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Women Focus Art on Social Themes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/28/nyregion/women-focus-art-on-social-themes.html |work=The New York Times |date=February 28, 1988 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref>

In the 1980s Fishman exhibited widely, combining mixed media and narrative imagery to examine social change. A 1988 review noted her “consistent progress and a respectable maintenance of cutting-edge content,” describing her paintings as both experimental and political.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Schwendenwein |first=Jude |title=Works by Susan Hoffman Fishman, Francine Gintoff, and Nancy Iddings |journal=Art New England |volume=9 |issue=5 |date=May 1988 |pages=45–46}}</ref> In 1987 and 1988 ”The New York Times”’ coverage placed her among artists addressing social themes and civic engagement.<ref>{{cite news |last=Zimmer |first=William |title=Art; Winners’ Works in Hartford |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1987/02/22/170887.html?pageNumber=121 |work=The New York Times |date=February 22, 1987 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Women Focus Art on Social Themes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/28/nyregion/women-focus-art-on-social-themes.html |work=The New York Times |date=February 28, 1988 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref>

During the 2010s her focus shifted toward environmental issues especially related to water and climate change. The traveling, interactive exhibition ”The Wave” (2011–2017), co-created with Elena Kalman, encouraged participants to consider how water binds global communities. Commissioned by the [[Peabody Essex Museum]] in Salem, Massachusetts, the project traveled to twenty-four indoor and outdoor venues, including the [[Wadsworth Atheneum]], [[New Britain Museum of American Art]], Hartford’s [[Bushnell Park]] in Connecticut, as well as sites in Massachusetts, Maryland, and New York City. It was also presented at the [[National Aquarium (Baltimore)|National Aquarium in Baltimore]] for [[World Oceans Day]] in 2013. Its form and meaning evolved at each site: in Salem it was part of “The Ripple Effect: The Art of H2O,” while in [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]] it symbolized the return of water to Bushnell Park as part of the city’s iQuilt Plan. Fishman described the installation as shaped by public participation, noting that “none of this, we did—it’s all come from the community.”<ref>{{cite news |title=Community Art Project Represents Water Returning to Bushnell Park |url=https://www.courant.com/2012/09/25/community-art-project-represents-water-returning-to-bushnell-park-2/ |work=The Hartford Courant |date=September 25, 2012 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Appel |first=Allan |title=”The Wave” Rolls Into Town |url=https://www.newhavenindependent.org/2014/04/29/the_wave_rolls_into_town/ |work=New Haven Independent |date=April 29, 2014 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref> This participatory project marked her transition from social commentary to ecological inquiry.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brady |first=Amy |title=An Interview with Artist and Writer Susan Hoffman Fishman |url=https://artistsandclimatechange.com/2019/01/10/an-interview-with-artist-and-writer-susan-hoffman-fishman/ |website=Artists & Climate Change |date=January 10, 2019 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref> In 2017 the [[William Benton Museum of Art]] presented ”Unfiltered: An Exhibition About Water”, where her mixed-media collages ”Water Wars,” and ”Rising Tides,” addressed water scarcity and floods.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dunne |first=Susan |title=”Unfiltered: An Exhibition About Water” At Benton In Storrs |url=https://www.courant.com/2017/08/28/unfiltered-an-exhibition-about-water-at-benton-in-storrs/ |work=The Hartford Courant |date=August 28, 2017 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref>

During the 2010s her focus shifted toward environmental issues especially related to water and climate change. The traveling, interactive exhibition ”The Wave” (2011–2017), co-created with Elena Kalman, encouraged participants to consider how water binds global communities. Commissioned by the [[Peabody Essex Museum]] in Salem, Massachusetts, the project traveled to twenty-four indoor and outdoor venues, including the [[Wadsworth Atheneum]], [[New Britain Museum of American Art]], Hartford’s [[Bushnell Park]] in Connecticut, as well as sites in Massachusetts, Maryland, and New York City. It was also presented at the [[National Aquarium (Baltimore)|National Aquarium in Baltimore]] for [[World Oceans Day]] in 2013. Its form and meaning evolved at each site: in Salem it was part of “The Ripple Effect: The Art of H2O,” while in [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]] it symbolized the return of water to Bushnell Park as part of the city’s iQuilt Plan. Fishman described the installation as shaped by public participation, noting that “none of this, we did—it’s all come from the community.”<ref>{{cite news |title=Community Art Project Represents Water Returning to Bushnell Park |url=https://www.courant.com/2012/09/25/community-art-project-represents-water-returning-to-bushnell-park-2/ |work=The Hartford Courant |date=September 25, 2012 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Appel |first=Allan |title=”The Wave” Rolls Into Town |url=https://www.newhavenindependent.org/2014/04/29/the_wave_rolls_into_town/ |work=New Haven Independent |date=April 29, 2014 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref> This participatory project marked her transition from social commentary to ecological inquiry.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brady |first=Amy |title=An Interview with Artist and Writer Susan Hoffman Fishman |url=https://artistsandclimatechange.com/2019/01/10/an-interview-with-artist-and-writer-susan-hoffman-fishman/ |website=Artists & Climate Change |date=January 10, 2019 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref> In 2017 the [[William Benton Museum of Art]] presented ”Unfiltered: An Exhibition About Water”, where her ”Water Wars,” and ”Rising Tides,” addressed water scarcity and floods.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dunne |first=Susan |title=”Unfiltered: An Exhibition About Water” At Benton In Storrs |url=https://www.courant.com/2017/08/28/unfiltered-an-exhibition-about-water-at-benton-in-storrs/ |work=The Hartford Courant |date=August 28, 2017 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref>

In ”Turning Tides” (Torpedo Factory Art Center, 2022), curated by [[Diane Burko]], [[Mark Jenkins (artist)|Mark Jenkins]] described her contribution as reflecting “the devastating effects of human interference.”<ref>{{cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Mark |title=In the galleries: Looming impacts of climate change close to home |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/09/01/art-gallery-shows-dc-area/ |work=The Washington Post |date=September 1, 2022 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref> At the 2022 exhibition at the [[New York Feminist Art Institute#Ceres_Gallery|Ceres Gallery]], ”Mayday! EAARTH”, her aerial views of Dead Sea and Siberian terrains, showing [[Sinkhole|sinkholes]] from [[Permafrost melting|permafrost melt]] and [[water extraction]], use color that makes the land appear “riven with pain.”<ref name=”McDermott2022″ /> Her imagery has been described as “hovering between [[Abstraction_(art)|abstraction]] and [[Landscape painting|landscape]],” using shifting perspectives to evoke ecological instability.<ref>{{cite web |last=Slattery |first=Brian |title=The Earth Is Breaking Beautifully |url=https://reviews.newhavenindependent.org/reviews/the_earth_is_breaking_beautifully |website=New Haven Independent Review Crew |date=April 2, 2024 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref> [[Eleanor Heartney]], writing in the [[Yale Institute of Sacred Music]] catalog ”Biophilia: In Excelsis” (2024), observed that Fishman’s Dead Sea paintings “document the unsettling radiance of sinkholes, balancing beauty with ecological warning.”<ref>{{cite web |title=Biophilia: In Excelsis (exhibition catalog; essay by Eleanor Heartney) |url=https://ism.yale.edu/media/3193/download?inline= |website=Yale Institute of Sacred Music |publisher=Yale University |date=2024 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref> Drawing on myth and ritual, her practice reflects on humanity’s relationship with a planet in flux.<ref>{{cite web |title=Imagining Water: Myth, Ritual, and a Changing Planet |url=https://imagejournal.org/article/imagining-water-myth-ritual-and-a-changing-planet/ |website=Image Journal |issue=120 |date=2024 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Slattery |first=Brian |title=Artists Open Path to Grappling With Climate Change |url=https://www.newhavenindependent.org/2024/04/02/biophilia/ |work=New Haven Independent |date=April 2, 2024 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref> In 2024 her installation ”In the End, a Devastating Beauty” (Stand4 Gallery) was described as “a meditation on the Anthropocene, where data becomes emotion.”<ref>{{cite web |title=In the End, a Devastating Beauty (catalog) |url=https://issuu.com/susanhoffmanfishman/docs/_in_the_end_a_devastating_beauty |website=Stand4 Gallery |date=2024 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref>

In ”Turning Tides” (Torpedo Factory Art Center, 2022), curated by [[Diane Burko]], [[Mark Jenkins (artist)|Mark Jenkins]] described her contribution as reflecting “the devastating effects of human interference.”<ref>{{cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Mark |title=In the galleries: Looming impacts of climate change close to home |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2022/09/01/art-gallery-shows-dc-area/ |work=The Washington Post |date=September 1, 2022 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref> At the 2022 exhibition at the [[New York Feminist Art Institute#Ceres_Gallery|Ceres Gallery]], ”Mayday! EAARTH”, her aerial views of Dead Sea and Siberian terrains, showing [[Sinkhole|sinkholes]] from [[Permafrost melting|permafrost melt]] and [[water extraction]], use color that makes the land appear “riven with pain.”<ref name=”McDermott2022″ /> Her imagery has been described as “hovering between [[Abstraction_(art)|abstraction]] and [[Landscape painting|landscape]],” using shifting perspectives to evoke ecological instability.<ref>{{cite web |last=Slattery |first=Brian |title=The Earth Is Breaking Beautifully |url=https://reviews.newhavenindependent.org/reviews/the_earth_is_breaking_beautifully |website=New Haven Independent Review Crew |date=April 2, 2024 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref> [[Eleanor Heartney]], writing in the [[Yale Institute of Sacred Music]] catalog ”Biophilia: In Excelsis” (2024), observed that Fishman’s Dead Sea paintings “document the unsettling radiance of sinkholes, balancing beauty with ecological warning.”<ref>{{cite web |title=Biophilia: In Excelsis (exhibition catalog; essay by Eleanor Heartney) |url=https://ism.yale.edu/media/3193/download?inline= |website=Yale Institute of Sacred Music |publisher=Yale University |date=2024 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref> Drawing on myth and ritual, her practice reflects on humanity’s relationship with a planet in flux.<ref>{{cite web |title=Imagining Water: Myth, Ritual, and a Changing Planet |url=https://imagejournal.org/article/imagining-water-myth-ritual-and-a-changing-planet/ |website=Image Journal |issue=120 |date=2024 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Slattery |first=Brian |title=Artists Open Path to Grappling With Climate Change |url=https://www.newhavenindependent.org/2024/04/02/biophilia/ |work=New Haven Independent |date=April 2, 2024 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref> In 2024 her installation ”In the End, a Devastating Beauty” (Stand4 Gallery) was described as “a meditation on the Anthropocene, where data becomes emotion.”<ref>{{cite web |title=In the End, a Devastating Beauty (catalog) |url=https://issuu.com/susanhoffmanfishman/docs/_in_the_end_a_devastating_beauty |website=Stand4 Gallery |date=2024 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref>

”The Tale of Lost Waters” (Five Points Arts, 2025) continues this investigation, depicting bodies of water that have receded or vanished, “a narrative that documents a global geological disaster.”<ref name=”Yaniv2025″>{{cite web |last=Yaniv |first=Etty |title=The Tale of Lost Waters – Susan Hoffman Fishman at Five Points Arts |url=https://artspiel.org/the-tale-of-lost-waters-susan-hoffman-fishman-at-five-points-arts/ |website=Art Spiel |date=March 19, 2025 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref> Fishman’s work has been described as moving “from social critique to ecological inquiry,” reflecting an increasing emphasis on environmental themes.<ref name=”Yaniv2025″ /><ref>{{cite journal |last=Driscoll |first=Rosalyn |title=Time as River |journal=Tangible Territories |volume=7 |date=September 2024 |url=https://tangibleterritories.com/2024/09/15/time-as-river/ |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref>

”The Tale of Lost Waters” (Five Points Arts, 2025) continues this investigation, depicting bodies of water that have receded or vanished, a global geological disaster.<ref name=”Yaniv2025″>{{cite web |last=Yaniv |first=Etty |title=The Tale of Lost Waters – Susan Hoffman Fishman at Five Points Arts |url=https://artspiel.org/the-tale-of-lost-waters-susan-hoffman-fishman-at-five-points-arts/ |website=Art Spiel |date=March 19, 2025 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref> described as to .<ref name=”Yaniv2025″ /><ref>{{cite journal |last=Driscoll |first=Rosalyn |title=Time as River |journal=Tangible Territories |volume=7 |date=September 2024 |url=https://tangibleterritories.com/2024/09/15/time-as-river/ |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref>

== Activism ==

== Activism ==

Fishman’s environmental activism is closely tied to her collaborative and community-based projects. Her earlier civic involvement included projects at Hartford’s Charter Oak Cultural Center, noted in a feature on the synagogue’s revitalization as a community arts space.<ref>{{cite news |last=Felson |first=Leonard |title=The View From: Hartford; A Synagogue With a Legacy for New Immigrants |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/14/nyregion/the-view-from-hartford-a-synagogue-with-a-legacy-for-new-immigrants.html |work=The New York Times |date=January 14, 1996 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref> In 2016 Hoffman Fishman and Kalman created ”Open House: Hartford” at the Charter Oak Cultural Center, a participatory installation addressing homelessness. The work evolved from an earlier version shown at Stamford Government Center and reflected themes of safety, belonging, and shelter.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dunne |first=Susan |title=The Heartbreaking Reality of Homelessness on Display at Charter Oak |url=https://www.courant.com/2016/12/27/the-heartbreaking-reality-of-homelessness-on-display-at-charter-oak/ |work=The Hartford Courant |date=December 27, 2016 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref>

Fishman’s environmental activism is closely tied to her collaborative and community-based projects. Her earlier civic involvement included projects at Hartford’s Charter Oak Cultural Center, noted in a feature on the synagogue’s revitalization as a community arts space.<ref>{{cite news |last=Felson |first=Leonard |title=The View From: Hartford; A Synagogue With a Legacy for New Immigrants |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/14/nyregion/the-view-from-hartford-a-synagogue-with-a-legacy-for-new-immigrants.html |work=The New York Times |date=January 14, 1996 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref> In 2016 Fishman and Kalman created ”Open House: Hartford” at the Charter Oak Cultural Center, a participatory installation addressing homelessness. The work evolved from an earlier version shown at Stamford Government Center and reflected themes of safety, belonging, and shelter.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dunne |first=Susan |title=The Heartbreaking Reality of Homelessness on Display at Charter Oak |url=https://www.courant.com/2016/12/27/the-heartbreaking-reality-of-homelessness-on-display-at-charter-oak/ |work=The Hartford Courant |date=December 27, 2016 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref>

In 2022 Fishman collaborated with artists Krisanne Baker and Leslie Sobel on the multimedia installation ”Flood 2.0”, which combined projected video, an original Greek chorus, and suspended boat and scrolls to evoke rising waters and collective resilience. Developed during a residency at Five Points Arts Center in Torrington, Connecticut, the work was later exhibited at the Ely Center of Contemporary Art. The installation linked future apocalyptic [[Flood protection|flood projections]] with the Biblical [[Flood myth|flood narrative]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Yaniv |first=Etty |title=Residency at Five Points – Flood 2.0 at Ely Center of Contemporary Art |url=https://artspiel.org/residency-at-five-points-flood-2-0-at-ely-center-of-contemporary-art/ |website=Art Spiel |date=October 17, 2022 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref><ref name=”ArtsPaper2024″>{{cite web |last=Singer |first=Kapp |title=Water Is in the Air |url=https://www.newhavenarts.org/arts-paper/articles/water-is-in-the-air |website=Arts Paper |publisher=Arts Council of Greater New Haven |date=May 10, 2024 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Slattery |first=Brian |title=Artists Stare Into the Sun |url=https://www.newhavenindependent.org/2024/05/16/ely_center_solo_shows/ |work=New Haven Independent |date=May 16, 2024 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref>

In 2022 Fishman collaborated with artists Krisanne Baker and Leslie Sobel on the multimedia installation ”Flood 2.0”, which combined projected video, an original Greek chorus, and suspended boat and scrolls to evoke rising waters and collective resilience. Developed during a residency at Five Points Arts Center in Torrington, Connecticut, the work was later exhibited at the Ely Center of Contemporary Art. The installation linked future apocalyptic [[Flood protection|flood projections]] with the Biblical [[Flood myth|flood narrative]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Yaniv |first=Etty |title=Residency at Five Points – Flood 2.0 at Ely Center of Contemporary Art |url=https://artspiel.org/residency-at-five-points-flood-2-0-at-ely-center-of-contemporary-art/ |website=Art Spiel |date=October 17, 2022 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref><ref name=”ArtsPaper2024″>{{cite web |last=Singer |first=Kapp |title=Water Is in the Air |url=https://www.newhavenarts.org/arts-paper/articles/water-is-in-the-air |website=Arts Paper |publisher=Arts Council of Greater New Haven |date=May 10, 2024 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Slattery |first=Brian |title=Artists Stare Into the Sun |url=https://www.newhavenindependent.org/2024/05/16/ely_center_solo_shows/ |work=New Haven Independent |date=May 16, 2024 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref>

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== Collections ==

== Collections ==

* William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut — ”The Wave” (with Elena Kalman).<ref>{{cite web |title=The Wave exhibit reminds visitors how the world is connected by water |url=https://benton.uconn.edu/2017/10/11/the-wave-exhibit-reminds-visitors-how-the-world-is-connected-by-water/ |website=William Benton Museum of Art |publisher=University of Connecticut |date=October 11, 2017 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref>

* William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut — ”The Wave” (with Elena Kalman).<ref>{{cite web |title=The Wave |url=https://.uconn.edu///// |website=William Benton Museum of Art |== |access-date=November , 2025}}</ref>

* Climate Art Collection — ”The Dead Sea: Then and Now” (2023).<ref>{{cite web |title=The Dead Sea: Then and Now |url=https://www.climateartcollection.com/artworks/view/YscqlKeA5PYwhRduV7od |website=Climate Art Collection |date=2023 |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref>

* Climate Art Collection — ”The Dead Sea: Then and Now” (2023).<ref>{{cite web |title=The Dead Sea: Then and Now |url=https://www.climateartcollection.com/artworks/view/YscqlKeA5PYwhRduV7od |access-date=November 12, 2025}}</ref>

== Further reading ==

== Further reading ==

American painter, environmental artist, and writer

Susan Hoffman Fishman
Known for Painting, environmental art, mixed media, activism
Movement Environmental art
Website www.susanhoffmanfishman.com

Susan Hoffman Fishman is an American painter, mixed-media and environmental artist, writer, and climate activist whose work explores the relationship between water, climate change, and humanity’s disconnect with the environment. Integrating painting, collage, and cyanotype, she often draws on satellite imagery and environmental data to depict the fragility of the earth.[1] Her practice joins visual art, writing, and activism in response to ecological loss and community resilience.[2]

The Earth is Breaking Beautifully VII: Dead Sea Sinkholes (2023) by Susan Hoffman Fishman — acrylic, oil pigment sticks, satellite images, cyanotype and mixed media on paper, 51″ × 51″.

In the 1980s Fishman exhibited widely, combining mixed media and narrative imagery to examine social change. A 1988 review noted her “consistent progress and a respectable maintenance of cutting-edge content,” describing her paintings as both experimental and political.[3] In 1987 and 1988 The New York Times’ coverage placed her among artists addressing social themes and civic engagement.[4][5]

During the 2010s her focus shifted toward environmental issues especially related to water and climate change. The traveling, interactive exhibition The Wave (2011–2017), co-created with Elena Kalman, encouraged participants to consider how water binds global communities. Commissioned by the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, the project traveled to twenty-four indoor and outdoor venues, including the Wadsworth Atheneum, New Britain Museum of American Art, Hartford’s Bushnell Park in Connecticut, as well as sites in Massachusetts, Maryland, and New York City. It was also presented at the National Aquarium in Baltimore for World Oceans Day in 2013. Its form and meaning evolved at each site: in Salem it was part of “The Ripple Effect: The Art of H2O,” while in Hartford it symbolized the return of water to Bushnell Park as part of the city’s iQuilt Plan. Fishman described the installation as shaped by public participation, noting that “none of this, we did—it’s all come from the community.”[6][7] This participatory project marked her transition from social commentary to ecological inquiry.[8] In 2017 the William Benton Museum of Art presented Unfiltered: An Exhibition About Water, where her paintings Water Wars, and Rising Tides, addressed water scarcity and floods.[9]

In Turning Tides (Torpedo Factory Art Center, 2022), curated by Diane Burko, Mark Jenkins described her contribution as reflecting “the devastating effects of human interference.”[10] At the 2022 exhibition at the Ceres Gallery, Mayday! EAARTH, her aerial views of Dead Sea and Siberian terrains, showing sinkholes from permafrost melt and water extraction, use color that makes the land appear “riven with pain.”[2] Her imagery has been described as “hovering between abstraction and landscape,” using shifting perspectives to evoke ecological instability.[11] Eleanor Heartney, writing in the Yale Institute of Sacred Music catalog Biophilia: In Excelsis (2024), observed that Fishman’s Dead Sea paintings “document the unsettling radiance of sinkholes, balancing beauty with ecological warning.”[12] Drawing on myth and ritual, her practice reflects on humanity’s relationship with a planet in flux.[13][14] In 2024 her installation In the End, a Devastating Beauty (Stand4 Gallery) was described as “a meditation on the Anthropocene, where data becomes emotion.”[15]

The Tale of Lost Waters (Five Points Arts, 2025) continues this investigation, depicting bodies of water that have receded or vanished, documenting a global geological disaster.[16] It was described as a meditation on what is disappearing and an appeal to attend to what is being lost and remembered, a “ritual for mourning.”[16][17]

Fishman’s environmental activism is closely tied to her collaborative and community-based projects. Her earlier civic involvement included projects at Hartford’s Charter Oak Cultural Center, noted in a feature on the synagogue’s revitalization as a community arts space.[18] In 2016 Fishman and Kalman created Open House: Hartford at the Charter Oak Cultural Center, a participatory installation addressing homelessness. The work evolved from an earlier version shown at Stamford Government Center and reflected themes of safety, belonging, and shelter.[19]

In 2022 Fishman collaborated with artists Krisanne Baker and Leslie Sobel on the multimedia installation Flood 2.0, which combined projected video, an original Greek chorus, and suspended boat and scrolls to evoke rising waters and collective resilience. Developed during a residency at Five Points Arts Center in Torrington, Connecticut, the work was later exhibited at the Ely Center of Contemporary Art. The installation linked future apocalyptic flood projections with the Biblical flood narrative.[20][21][22]

Fishman is a founding member of the international artist cooperative Think About Water. In 2024 she participated in Exquisite River at the Ely Center of Contemporary Art on their collaborative exhibition on rivers.[21][23][24]

In 2025 the Adaptation and Sustainability Committee of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change produced a video presentation examining Fishman’s visual documentation of shrinking lakes and permafrost sinkholes within a broader discussion of artists addressing the climate crisis. It included her observation that “art has the unique ability to confront overwhelming subjects like climate change and stimulate difficult conversations.”[25]

From 2017 to 2022 Fishman wrote the monthly column Imagining Water for Artists & Climate Change, examining the work of artists worldwide whose practices center on water and climate change.[26] In 2024 Image Journal published her essay “Imagining Water: Myth, Ritual, and a Changing Planet,” about artists who expressed their anxiety about the future of the planet by creating work that is a form of prayer.[27] In interviews she has said that “my belief in the power of art to effect change is stronger than it was when we first talked,” linking her studio practice to direct advocacy.[28]

  • William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut — The Wave (2018, with Elena Kalman). Polycarbonate and recyclable plastic on nylon string. A commissioned installation.[29] Waiting Room III (1992). Mixed media on paper, 40 1/4 x 26 1/2 in. (102.2 x 67.3 cm). The Esther and James Barnett Collection of American Paintings.[30]
  • Climate Art Collection — The Dead Sea: Then and Now (2023). Acrylic, oil pigment, satellite images, cyanotype, and mixed media on panel, 18 x 18 in.[31]
  • “Interview with Artist and Writer Susan Hoffman Fishman.” Burning Worlds: Climate Change in Art and Literature. December 2018. [1]
  • Brady, Amy. “An Interview with Artist and Writer Susan Hoffman Fishman.” Artists & Climate Change. January 10, 2019. [2]
  • “The World of Water.” The Art of Sustainability. June 21, 2019. [3]
  • Brady, Amy. “Susan Hoffman Fishman in Burning Worlds.” Art Spiel. April 16, 2023. [4]
  • Heartney, Eleanor. Biophilia: In Excelsis. Yale Institute of Sacred Music, 2024. [5]
  • Exquisite River Exhibition Catalog. Think About Water, 2024. [6]
  • “Meet Susan Hoffman Fishman — UNFCCC Adaptation and Sustainability Committee Feature.” United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. July 30, 2025. [7]
  1. ^ Luby, Abby (April 9, 2024). “Embracing the Earth, Reflecting the Science”. Climate You. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  2. ^ a b McDermott, Jim (December 22, 2022). “An NYC art exhibit shows the beauty and blight of Earth’s climate today”. National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  3. ^ Schwendenwein, Jude (May 1988). “Works by Susan Hoffman Fishman, Francine Gintoff, and Nancy Iddings”. Art New England. 9 (5): 45–46.
  4. ^ Zimmer, William (February 22, 1987). “Art; Winners’ Works in Hartford”. The New York Times. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  5. ^ “Women Focus Art on Social Themes”. The New York Times. February 28, 1988. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  6. ^ “Community Art Project Represents Water Returning to Bushnell Park”. The Hartford Courant. September 25, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  7. ^ Appel, Allan (April 29, 2014). ““The Wave” Rolls Into Town”. New Haven Independent. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  8. ^ Brady, Amy (January 10, 2019). “An Interview with Artist and Writer Susan Hoffman Fishman”. Artists & Climate Change. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  9. ^ Dunne, Susan (August 28, 2017). “‘Unfiltered: An Exhibition About Water’ At Benton In Storrs”. The Hartford Courant. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  10. ^ Jenkins, Mark (September 1, 2022). “In the galleries: Looming impacts of climate change close to home”. The Washington Post. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  11. ^ Slattery, Brian (April 2, 2024). “The Earth Is Breaking Beautifully”. New Haven Independent Review Crew. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  12. ^ “Biophilia: In Excelsis (exhibition catalog; essay by Eleanor Heartney)”. Yale Institute of Sacred Music. Yale University. 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  13. ^ “Imagining Water: Myth, Ritual, and a Changing Planet”. Image Journal. 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  14. ^ Slattery, Brian (April 2, 2024). “Artists Open Path to Grappling With Climate Change”. New Haven Independent. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  15. ^ “In the End, a Devastating Beauty (catalog)”. Stand4 Gallery. 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  16. ^ a b Yaniv, Etty (March 19, 2025). “The Tale of Lost Waters – Susan Hoffman Fishman at Five Points Arts”. Art Spiel. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  17. ^ Driscoll, Rosalyn (September 2024). “Time as River”. Tangible Territories. 7. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  18. ^ Felson, Leonard (January 14, 1996). “The View From: Hartford; A Synagogue With a Legacy for New Immigrants”. The New York Times. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  19. ^ Dunne, Susan (December 27, 2016). “The Heartbreaking Reality of Homelessness on Display at Charter Oak”. The Hartford Courant. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  20. ^ Yaniv, Etty (October 17, 2022). “Residency at Five Points – Flood 2.0 at Ely Center of Contemporary Art”. Art Spiel. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  21. ^ a b Singer, Kapp (May 10, 2024). “Water Is in the Air”. Arts Paper. Arts Council of Greater New Haven. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  22. ^ Slattery, Brian (May 16, 2024). “Artists Stare Into the Sun”. New Haven Independent. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  23. ^ “Think About Water: Exquisite River”. Ely Center of Contemporary Art. 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  24. ^ “Exquisite River Exhibition Catalog” (PDF). Think About Water. 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  25. ^ Meet Susan Hoffman Fishman — UNFCCC Adaptation and Sustainability Committee Feature (Video). United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. July 30, 2025. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  26. ^ “Imagining Water (series index)”. Artists & Climate Change. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  27. ^ “Imagining Water: Myth, Ritual, and a Changing Planet”. Image Journal. 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  28. ^ Brady, Amy (April 16, 2023). “Susan Hoffman Fishman in Burning Worlds”. Art Spiel. Retrieved November 12, 2025.
  29. ^ “The Wave”. William Benton Museum of Art. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  30. ^ “Waiting Room III”. William Benton Museum of Art. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  31. ^ “The Dead Sea: Then and Now”. Climate Art Collection. Retrieved November 12, 2025.

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