Artspace, the Journal of Leamington Studio Artists Winter 2001
MA Exhibition Coventry School of Art – by Dave Phillips
(refers to images 'In Honour of my Father')

There were five students exhibiting: Eveson, Hughes, Mccorry, Mendelsson and Walden.

The variety of production established that there was no house style and the quality of the work was high.

One of the more intriguing of the group was Susie Mendelsson who was not afraid to paint in a large format that had complicated crowded compositions. These were often set in a wooded context and the figures seemed drawn towards some guru or shaman-like figure.

These were ambitious works for a student and the sense of compulsion that the figures had towards the epicentre extended to the viewer as he witnessed some mysterious ritual. It is expected that one will see more of this student's work as she develops rapidly being a fully-fledged artists.

Artspace, the Journal of Leamington Studio Artists, Issue number 24, Spring 2006
'Walks of Life' at the Loft Theatre by Dave Phillips
(refers to images of 'Paper-Torn Figures')

These works were a surprise as previously Mendelsson has shown large paintings with white figures in glades seeming to be part of some strange ritual. These works on display are smaller, more light-hearted, consisting of torn coloured wrapping paper, creating shapes of the human form.

They are endearing as they represent a whole range of the human condition to include the frail and the young, from those who dance to those who totter. It is all done by hand, so the torn paper has no hard edges and is simply stuck onto sheets of white paper in turn.

There is something organic, immediate and pleasing about these works, and, although some pictorial space emerges in the more complex compositions, most are simple silhouettes of figures involved in some action. It is a huge change in style and intension as if the artist wanted relief from the intensity of searching for some greater meaning to an acceptance of social life for what it is as a theatre of the absurd.