Samantha Stephenson
Samantha Stephenson
Forget the words
36×76×41cm painted steel
Samantha Stephenson
Nest 2023
painted steel
approximately 300cm high
Commissioned by Mosman Art Gallery to commemorate long time supporters of the gallery Stanley and Diane Wachman
Installed in May 2023 at Mosman Art Gallery, corner of Art Gallery Way & Vista Stret Mosman
Born in Sydney, Samantha has a Master of Fine Art in Sculpture from the National Art School Sydney and currently lives and works in the Southern Highlands New South Wales.
Samantha has exhibited at Sculpture by the Sea and been a finalist in the Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize. She was warded joint first place in the Bowral Sculpture Prize in 2019, and was winner of the WSU Peter Eichhorn Family Sculpture Award in 2021
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Statement from 2019 BRONZE & STEEL exhibition
Samantha’s practice aims to achieve a lightness and fluidity of touch whilst using a normally, rigid and heavy industrial material. She composes curved elements, that capture movement and lead the eye and body of the viewer around the work, to reveal lines, shapes and volumes, whilst provoking a sense of mystery in the spaces cast by shadow. Samantha’s interest in architecture leads her to create spaces within her work that ignite the imagination. In addition, she has begun to incorporate a series of works that begin to draw in a linear sensibility. These lines and spaces that breathe air into the work, challenge the usually voluminous and bold surface planes used.
Colour plays a significant role in her work and through its use reveals liberation. The colours, at times bold and others, subdued, make it possible to render the speed and motion of the sculpture whilst serving as a unifying element. Samantha aims to use colour as a way to grasp the sculptures presence, curiosity and spirit.
Following her solo show last year titled, “Resonant Moments”, this body of work is an amalgamation of an intuitive approach to the material, sighting the everyday experiences and referencing memories of works of art and architecture in history, creating a continuing conversation through sculpture.
Samantha Stephenson
Notion of Flight
300×175×129cm painted steel
Western Sydney University Sculpture Award and Exhibition
7 May – 6 June 2021
WSU Campbelltown Campus
Winner Peter Eichhorn Family Sculpture Award
Samantha Stephenson
Love & War
22×66×57cm painted steel
Samantha Stephenson
Education
2017 Master of Fine Art, National Art School, Sydney
2015 Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) National Art School, Sydney
2014 Bachelor of Fine Art (Sculpture) National Art School, Sydney
Solo Exhibitions
2021 Rose Garden Robin Gibson Gallery
2020 Caught in a second Robin Gibson Gallery
2019 The Invitation Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre (As, White Field, Collaborative Practice)
2018 Resonant Moments, Robin Gibson Gallery
2016 In Her Image, Robin Gibson Gallery
Group Exhibitions
since 2015 Group Shows at Robin Gibson Gallery including New Talent | Recent Graduates 2015 and the Annual Group Sculpture Shows
2021 Western Sydney University Sculpture Award & Exhibition, NSW
2019 Bronze & Steel with Clement Meadmore & Simon Hodgson, Robin Gibson Gallery
2019 Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, Gordon, NSW
2019 Bowral Sculpture Prize, Bowral Art Gallery, NSW
2019 Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Art Centre, NSW
2018 Sculptures In the Garden, Mudgee, NSW
2018 Hillview Sculpture Biennial, Sutton Forest, NSW
2017 Postgraduate Exhibition, National Art School, Sydney
2017 Sculpture by the Sea Bondi
2017 The Studio at Santa Maria a Rignana, Italy
2017 The Paddock 3: Posted to New York, Aloft, Harlem NYC
2017 Bowral Sculpture Prize, Bowral Art Gallery NSW
2015 Sculpture by the Sea Bondi
2015 Fundraising Event for The Centenary Institute Dominik Mersch Gallery
2014 Sculpture by the Sea Bondi
2014 Organica Library Square Sculpture Plinth, Lane Cove
2014 Sculpture at Sawmillers McMahons Point
Awards
2021 Winner of the Peter Eichhorn Family Sculpture Prize, Western Sydney University
Sculpture Award & Exhibition
2019 Joint Winner of Bowral Sculpture Prize, Bowral and District Art Society
2019 Highly Commended in Bowral Sculpture Prize, Bowral and District Art Society
2014 Special Commendation, National Art School
2014 Robin Gibson Gallery, New Talent Exhibition, National Art School
2014 Clitheroe Foundation Emerging Sculptor Mentorship, Sculpture by the Sea
Residencies
2018 Hill End Artist in Residence, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, NSW. Part of White Field, collaborative practice
2018 Muswellbrook Artist in Residence, Muswellbrook Regional Art Centre, NSW. Part of White Field, collaborative practice.
2017 The Studio at Santa Maria a Rignan, Artist Residency in Tuscany
Collections
St Vincent’s Hospital
Hillview Sculpture Park
Private Collections
Commissions
2014 Churchill Eco Dental Care, Sydney
Bibliography
Muswellbrook Regional Art Centre, In the news, Interview by Elissa Emerson 2019
Highlife. ‘Sculptors head for the hills’ April/ May 2018
Escape, Southern Highlands. ‘Hillview Heights’ Autumn 2018
The Culture Concept Circle. New Talent- Recent Art Graduates at Robin Gibson Gallery. Text, Carolyn Mcdowall. 10 February 2015
Sydney Morning Herald. Canberra works in Sculpture by the Sea. Text, Sasha Grishin. 23 October 2014
Parramatta Advertiser. Samantha’s ready to make her mark. Image, Daniel Aarons and text, Matt Shand. 15 October 2014
Sculpture by the Sea. Clitheroe Foundation Emerging Artists Mentor Program, news. 9 September 2014
