Meet Trailblazer Suzka

Today we’d like to introduce you to Suzka.

Suzka, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
A story of one woman trying to change the perception of dementia:

When I was taking care of my mother and living in her world that I respectfully called Dementialand™, I had no idea it would end with a book – a fictional memoir that I would later present to a room filled with producers and directors at the AFM (American Film Market) in Santa Monica. And never in a million years did I think four months later, I would be in Berlin working with a producer in writing a script for the movie, Wonders In Dementialand. Amazing. But, it was actually during my flight back to the states when I first realized the enormity of the subject and how important it is to tell this story. There is the other side of dementia that no one is talking about.

I am an artist, a painter and the last person one would think to be a caregiver but when my mother, Violet, was diagnosed with dementia, I was drafted. I left my studio, a converted warehouse in California and moved into my mother’s home in Chicago. Little did I know, dementia would move me in a direction that I would have never dreamed.

Childhood Experiences:

I was a precocious child. My curious behavior tested my parents’ patience. It was this gift of sorts that brought about my mother’s innovative skills in the discipline. Kneeling on rice was one of her specialties. A shoebox was placed on the floor with the longer side wall torn down. Uncooked rice was placed inside the box. Before you harbor thoughts of child abuse, I need to add that other unsuccessful punishments led to this desperate action. I remember one day in particular when both my sister and I were being equally punished for some alleged activity. I explained to my sister, the tricky part of the process was pushing the rice away from the landing runway with your knees as you as you slide into position. Then, you pad down the piled up rice around your knees to make everything flat. This gives the appearance that you are actually kneeling on the rice. She could add whimpering or be crying at her discretion, of course. It is very effective. At that early age, I learned the power of illusion and storytelling and how it can change everything.

I became a cartoonist and then a painter but storytelling became my ultimate medium. Words became my paint. I brushed them into some cockeyed order onto a story.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My mother’s dementia opened up an entirely new world for me… but cancer was about to shut it down. Weeks of chemo and then the major surgery drained everything out of me. I could barely complete a logical thought, write a check or take care of business. I needed to get healthy. So, I closed my gallery, sold everything and moved to San Diego, the Gaslamp area in particular where walking is basically the primary way to get around. I slept for one full year and walked. I walked everywhere. Then, I tackled the Convention Center’s landmark stairs. One hundred steps to be exact. Up and down, 15 times was my highest record. As my strength came back I began to write every day from 7 am to noon at Starbucks on Market and 4th. The routine grounded me and soon a book started to take shape. I began painting again and was commissioned to fill Simon’s Cafe and Catering on First Ave. With paintings for ComicCon.

I am now an author of a book that is about to become a movie and painting superhero characters. This far exceeded any plan I had for myself.

We’d love to hear more about ‘Wonders In Dementialand’, fictional memoir.
I believe in almost everything, it’s mentally healthier. Creators and magicians cannot be skeptical. They need to make themselves available to the thing that is being born and that is still shapeless and not properly defined. For me, reality and imagination have always been equally real. I look at life differently than most people.

I am a cartoonist, painter, muralist, and writer – a multi-media artist. I love storytelling and illusions. It gives my curiosity the space it needs to breathe and pushes me to go beyond that which is visible at first glance.

I was born in Chicago, studied at the Chicago Academy of Art and received a degree from Northern Illinois University. In Chicago I was active in theater, directing and producing, a street performer of Mime for the city of Chicago, and a student of ‘improv’ from Chicago’s Second City Company. I came to California in 1986 on an assignment creating cartoons for a book but I started painting on a dare and fell in love. After six months, I had my first one-woman show, exhibiting 12 large paintings at a prominent art gallery. Because I was actually a stranger in town and an unknown in the painter’s world, I created stand up billboard characters as guests attending my show. I wanted to make sure all my bases were covered. My paintings have been exhibited in numerous one-woman shows and installations throughout California as well as Chicago‘s Navy Pier (pre-amusement park).

I returned to Chicago years later to care for my mother who had dementia. Caregiving was never on my resume. I was a bit scared until I decided to leave my personal baggage and my daughter-ness at the door and enter my mother’s world which I respectfully called Dementialand. I had nothing to lose. The wisdom in dementia’s cock-eyed reality was about to change everything. We were unplugged from the outside world. We became part owners of each other, engaged in growing out of our ‘selves’. Dementia was a gift my mother unknowingly gave to me. I had to write about it.

I talk about dementia and memory everywhere I go and it always stirs up ardent conversations. It is a subject that affects everyone. Today more than 47.5 million are living with Dementia worldwide. Multiply that number by the family members and caregivers affected by dementia directly, day in and day out and you have a universe of people living in or near Dementialand. It is the book I wanted to read when I was caring for my mother – the other side of dementia no one is talking about.

I am best known for my work as the stage sets designer for the Monterey Jazz Festival, San Diego’s Comic-Con Painter. But most proud of authoring the Wonders In Dementialand.

Which women have inspired you in your life?
Eleanor Roosevelt, Benazir Bhutto, Edith Cavell, Maya Angelou, Isadora Duncan… they dared to imagine.

Pricing:

• The book, Wonders in Dementialand is $13 and available on Amazon.
• Paintings run from $1,000 to $15,000 (prints available)
• The history of Comic-con t-shirts $20.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dementialand.com, www.suzka.com
• Phone: 831.601.6977
• Email: suzkaworld@gmail.com
• Instagram: Dementialand-> https://www.instagram.com/dementialand/
• Facebook: Wonders In Dementialand: https://www.facebook.com/susan.collins.california
• Twitter: Dementialand-> https://mobile.twitter.com/Dementialand
• Other: YouTube Channel: Dementialand-> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-_h6Dr_ivYEob-F4pvqIgA

Image Credit:
AFM-Suzka-2017, Lorie LaBey interview Suzka, Dementialand: Violet photo,  Suzka Comic-Con-Zonk-Bam, Suzka Comic-Con-History of Comic-Con, Suzka painting: Little Italy, Monterey Jazz Festival stage designs, Monterey Jazz Festival 2016

Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.