Scatter Terrain at Ejecta Projects

I currently have work on view at Ejecta Projects which is located in downtown Carlisle, PA. Due to Covid-19 there wasn’t an opening reception and there will not be a closing reception. You can view the works in person, with a mask on during the week and weekend fortunately! I’m very thankful for being apart of this show, with 20 other talented artists (who I wish I could have met!). I’ve spent the last three years post-grad working tirelessly, trying to find a direction, a rhythm and consistency within my art making practice. Over the last three years, I’ve made plenty of work I’m not proud of and a handful of pieces I am an incredibly proud of, Fraktur Portal #2 being one of them! This work on paper, made of gouache and black walnut ink, came about in the late fall of 2020. I spent one-week at Oak Spring Garden Foundation as an Alumni Artist in Residence in October 2020. During those six days, I worked non-stop making work with my handmade inks on paper. Those drawings became the seeds that grew into what my work is now, 8 months later and still going strong! Scatter Terrain is about landscape, fragmentation and isolation. 2020 was a very isolating time for most people. I live alone so I understand isolation as both friend and foe very well. 2020 expounded on those aches and pains from loneliness to the gaping distance I felt from being away from family for half the year. I craved natural spaces. I craved fresh air and birdsong and leaves under my feet. I fed my cravings and muted my emotional pains by painting in my studio constantly. When I came up for air, I realized what I’ve made over the last 8 months has felt more true to me then ever before. Fraktur Portal #2 along with its companion pieces were my “lightbulb” moment. Needless to say, this work on paper is sacred to me.

I want to thank Shannon and Anthony, the owner’s and curator’s of Ejecta Projects gallery. It felt good to be included in a show for the first time in three years (a lot of time and money goes into applying for shows you don’t get into). They are kind people, running a stunning gallery in a very cozy, PA small town. We need more art spaces like this in the world! There are many days where I feel like my work will never be seen or appreciated or collected. It’s a very real anxiety I imagine all artists feel constantly. It’s a real flare of hope when your work gets noticed. I’m so thankful and I can’t wait to see the exhibition in person in a few weeks!

*the below image is of a really wonderful write up about my piece that you can find on Ejecta Projects website. Each artist has a paragraph highlighting their work. Thanks Shannon!

Introduction

For some time now, I’ve wanted to start a studio blog. I want to dedicate a space in my life to preserve my research, pigment making experiences, artist inspiration and general thoughts and ideas about making art. Whenever I stumble upon a fellow artist’s studio blog, I always dive head first into it. I want to know what inspires them to make art, learn more about how they make their art, and the challenges they face when trying to make artwork etc. while balancing a family and/or a 9-5 job and so on. I’ve found that studio blogs are few and far between. So I’m taking it upon myself to construct a studio blog, meant for a world that could use more of them! Hopefully I’ll inspire others and hold myself accountable for documenting my practice.

Whether you know me or not, I’m going to give an introduction of myself. I’m an artist born and raised in central Pennsylvania who lives and works in Philadelphia, PA. I recently proudly stated in a Zoom talk with a gallery, that I’m a Pennsylvanian artist and my work is about being Pennsylvanian. I found verbalizing that to be very cathartic and eye opening. I regularly read artist interviews, listen/attend artist talks and pay close attention to the placards by artwork that list where artists come from and end up living/working. The majority are ____ is a New York, NY artist. That’s not me, and my work wouldn’t be what it is without Pennsylvania. As of late, Pennsylvania German folk art has become a huge influence in my artmaking practice. My grandmother was PA German. She spoke the language and grew-up in coal mining country in Northern PA. Her impact on me was huge. I grew up gardening with her and my parents, fishing in our creek, running wild with my niece in the woods and fields surrounding my parents house and learning most importantly -- how to love and relate to the land we used for purpose and for pleasure. My artworks exist as works on paper, made with gouache, watercolor and handmade inks and collaged paper. I live in a 300ish ft. studio apartment which is also my artist studio (more details on that later) that requires me to work small and practically. I work a full-time job (in the arts thankfully) so artmaking isn’t what’s paying my bills or occupying my full attention. That about sums me up for the moment. I have plenty more to elaborate on later. 

Welcome to my little corner of the world, and thank you for reading! - Sam