Statement
My work explores grief, environmental fragility, and my rural Pennsylvania upbringing, through the use of plant-based inks that I forage for and create, which I incorporate into paintings on paper with watercolor, gouache and collage. In conjunction with the paintings, I also make small graphite drawings on paper that delve even deeper into the world around me. Moons, butterflies, flowers, spider webs and Pennsylvania German folk art often function as otherworldly icons and motifs that accentuate the mystery and majesty of the people and places I’ve known. In my more recent works, I advocate for native species and urban wildlife and explore my experiences with gardening. I transform images of flora and fauna into fragmented, dream-like narratives of preservation, reflection and timelessness. In doing so, I seek to bridge the ever-growing gap between humankind and the natural world.
Biography
Samantha Sanders (she/her, b. 1994) is a Philadelphia-based artist, originally from Harrisburg, PA. Sanders obtained her BFA in Fine Arts from the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design in Lancaster, PA in 2016. In 2018, she earned her MFA in Fine Arts from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA. She has participated in numerous group shows, at Stella Elkins Gallery at Temple University (PA), Ejecta Projects (PA), Field Projects Gallery (NY), Collar Works Gallery (NY), and MePaintsMe online gallery. In 2017 and 2020, Sanders created murals with Sprocket Mural Works, which are permanently located in downtown Harrisburg, PA. In 2019, 2020 and 2023 she completed Artist-in-Residence Programs at Oak Spring Garden Foundation (VA). In 2021 and 2022, Sanders was awarded an Illuminate the Arts Grant from the City of Philadelphia. Sanders’s solo show Of the Earth was on view at Holy Family University Art Gallery in January 2023. In 2023, she was also a part of the four-person exhibition Sustainable Studios, at Millersville University’s Eckert Art Gallery. Sanders will be exhibiting her graphite drawings for the first time, in a four-person show at Monaco Gallery in June 2024.
