Samantha Wilson
Degree: MRes
University: Royal College of Art
Graduation Year: 2023
New Blood Art Commentary
Notable Achievements 2023
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Samantha Wilson explores contemporary art as a tool to heighten empathy for displaced peoples in Europe
Working Small
See inside the studio
The communication between viewer and artwork, or self and other, are vast in the case of Samantha Wilson’s work. Our attention is immediately caught in the forms that loom over us, engaging presences. Large scale figures and bodily forms rendered in charcoal and ink stare out in uncompromising and stark confrontation. Wilson chooses pastel shades and ominous pinks against the shadowy, smoky contrast of charcoal to draw beautiful yet provocative reflections of individual characters.
The often withdrawn expressions and vacant faces lend a mysterious and somewhat isolated mask to each figure, begging questions of identity and the societal complexity of otherness. Each figure is cloaked in darkened shapes contrasted against softened edges, which lure unsettling feelings. This, in turn, exposes the diverse interpretations and subjectivity obtainable through each piece.
Samantha was awarded a scholarship to fund her MA at the Royal College of Art: Link to RCA Student Research Platform featuring Samantha Wilson
Artist Statement
My work uses drawing and painting to contemplate social, political and cultural issues. Ambiguity often plays a role in the formation of images to explore both the physical and ephemeral realms of human experience. Free-flowing mediums – charcoal, ink and powder pigments – are complimented by intentional subject matter. Depicting key events and figures of power that influence the nature of modern society. The work seeks to illuminate cross-cultural difference, similarity and ultimately the necessity for compassionate relating, regardless of race, age, gender, nationality or political status. It seeks to ask, how can contemporary art contribute in creating a more inclusive society?
Expanding on this my work explores the question: what does it feel like to be human, alone and together amidst turbulent times? Art for me has the capacity to delve in to this ambiguous question, because it shares the same quality as life. Its ambiguous and unstable.
It’s an ungraspable concept, but art for me functions as a powerful observation tool of how we share this life together. To try to encapsulate glimpses of it. I think it is effective because art materials can be built up, in layers and then peeled back. They dissolve and break apart much like our daily lives. Its very nature is useful to describe the way life is. In that the process can often be mysterious. You often do not end up where you intended to go, and naturally that is the how everything is.
The physical plane that we live in as humans is very unsteady. When we can relax into that, the unsteadiness becomes more bearable and art is kind of like that. Maybe it helps me deal with the unsteadiness because you always must be ready for that. Ready to face it over and over again.
Collecting and juxtaposing photographic imagery of the events in our lives, and recreating them with malleable materials like charcoal, powder pigments and paint let me look deeper at the life we are living, and try to extract both visible and invisible parts of it. I don’t know if that’s technically possible, but when I try, and look at the work when its finished, the feeling it brings makes it feel possible.
Solo Exhibitions
(2019) A Collective Public ‘Part 1’, Fabrica Braço de Prata, Lisbon, Portugal
(2016) Awakening Hearts, Zorba the Buddha, New Delhi
(2011) Pittenweem Art Festival, Robert Adamson Hair Design, Pittenweem, Fife
Group Exhibitions
(2023) RBA 200th Anniversary Group Exhibition., Mall Galleries, London.
(2023) Inner Workings, Cooke Latham Gallery, London
(2023) Earthwise, Beaconsfield Contemporary, London
(2023) London Art Biennale, Chelsea Old Town Hall, London
(2022) New QEST Scholars, Guildhall, London
(2022) Open Studio Exhibition, LX Factory, Studio 1.14B, Lisbon, Portugal
(2021) Open Studio Exhibition, LX Factory, Studio 1.14B, Lisbon, Portugal
(2020) Sustainable Connection, Unobvious Lab, Lisbon, Portugal
(2019) MFA Alumni Show, Flora Kirsch Beck Gallery, Michigan, USA
(2019) Castelo d’if Ateliers Aberturas, Espaço 62, Lisbon, Portugal
(2018) Castelo d’if Ateliers Aberturas, Espaço 62, Lisbon, Portugal
(2017) 12 x 12, Galeria da Graça, Lisbon, Portugal
(2017) Castelo d’if Ateliers Aberturas, Espaço 62, Lisbon, Portugal
(2017) Imagining the Future, Tafaria Castle, Nyeri, Kenya
(2016) Artist in Residence Group Show, Tafaria Castle, Nyeri, Kenya
(2016) Supporting Mind Scotland, The Image Collective Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
(2016) Gallery 48 Opening Exhibition, Gallery 48, Dundee
(2016) Jiwar Open Studios, Jiwar Int. Residence for Artists in Urban Creativity, Barcelona, Spain
(2016) RSA Open, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland
(2016) The W. Gordon Smith Painting Competition Exhibition, The Dovecot Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
(2015) Artsyland 9 New Graduates Exhibition II, WALL PROJECTS, Montrose, Scotland
(2015) New Scottish Artists, The Flemming Collection Gallery, London
(2015) RSA New Contemporaries, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland
(2015) Winter Postcard Show, WALL PROJECTS, Montrose, Scotland
(2015) Open up I’m Burning Through, Solstice Gallery De Goede, Toronto
(2014) RSW Royal Society Watercolours, The Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, Scotland
Competitions, Prizes & Awards
(2021) Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) £14,000 scholarship to fund an MA at Royal College of Art
(2021) QEST and Cockpit Arts London Professional Development Programme
(2021) The Eaton fund
(2017) Klein Artist Works scholarship
(2016) Nominee Scottish Variety Award for Best new Scottish Artist
(2015) The Fife Decorative and Fine Arts Society Award
(2015) The W.Gordon.Smith Painting Competition runner up prize
(2015) The Duncan of Jordanstone Postgraduate award for best academic performance
(2015) RSA John Kinross Scholarship to Florence
(2015) Friends of the RSA award
(2015) The Alexander Monroe Travel Award, best work for an artist under 30
(2015) The William Sangster Phillip's academic scholarship and bursary
(2014) The James Guthrie Memorial Art Prize
(2014) The Hermione Hammond runner up drawing prize
(2014) The Benni Esposito Drawing Award