S A M M Y
Sammy’s practice celebrates the intersection between the familiar and the sublime. Elevating the ordinary and the imperfect, her subjects are complex and free. Using an optimistic palette, she evokes nostalgia for travel and the mystique of faraway lands. While her style is warm and immediate, the stories she yields feel distant to our own.
At its heart, Sammy’s practice is driven by freedom: the lofty idea of it, what it means to the individual and ultimately her own search for it. An itinerant childhood and desire never to be defined by life’s challenges inform this thesis. She uses the versatility of oil to free fall into her practice, finding mistakes gratifying and meaning to come as slowly and surely as her brushstrokes.
After experimenting with many different premixed oil colours Sammy uses a set palette of the same five colours in all of her paintings. She enjoys the process of mixing and watching the colours evolve on her palette as much as she enjoys putting paint to canvas.
Sammy is an Australian-based self-taught artist. She has spent most of the last 10 years teaching at her own yoga studio, observing the benefits of openness and discipline. She has recently returned to her love of painting with a new vigour. Untethering herself is at the core of everything Sammy does, so while she currently works in oil, her medium and subject may evolve over time.