Samantha Stephenson

All that darkness holds

8 March – 5 April
opening 5-7pm Friday 7 March

Samantha Stephenson

Endless plain
84×33cm oil on board
$1,200

This body of work emerges from the quiet interplay of light and darkness in interior spaces, where the soft folds of fabric transform into intimate landscapes. Through painting and sculpture, I explore the dualities inherent in life—presence and absence, fragility and strength, hope and despair.

My process often begins with photography, capturing fleeting moments where shadows and highlights carve out delicate, shifting forms. These images are then translated into paint, where darkened shades find balance with lighter tones, echoing the contrasts that shape our emotional landscapes. The undulating forms of my abstracted sculptures expand upon these painted compositions, extending their movement into physical space.

My work transforms the familiar—draped fabric, an everyday interior—into something more elusive. These spaces become thresholds, where memory and emotion intertwine, where presence and absence blur. Beneath the surface, love and loss linger, reminding us that beauty and sorrow are inseparable. I want viewers to feel a quiet recognition, as if their own experiences echo in the folds, the shadows, and the spaces in between.