Current Exhibition
Sam Foster, My context, your confusion
Through Saturday, June 7, 2025
Gallery hours
Saturday, May 10, 11am-3pm
Saturday, May 17, 11am-3pm
Saturday, May 24, 11am-3pm
Saturday, May 31, 11am-3pm
Friday, June 6, 6–9pm – Artist’s Reception
Saturday, June 7, 11am-3pm – Last Look
Artist’s Statement
“My painting process is one of discovery through construction and I incorporate material processes that are based in chance and the unknown. I dip fabric into plaster to make hardened compositions as templates to paint on and respond to through my process of ‘clean up’ or ‘cover up’. I’m interested in chaos vs control, especially within one’s own life. I also incorporate biographical imagery that has been abstracted through different photographic and printing techniques. Taken out of context, these condensed images create a new meaning, one that I believe is more truthful or telling.
These paintings came from an drive to make work that relies on an internal and physical translation of emotions rather than illustration or any coherent representation. I’ve described the paintings in this show as weather-scapes of loss, drug addiction and fear. The painting entitled Elevator Man is an allegory painting of a dear friend who passed away and serves as an relic of witnessing his decent into madness. My painting process has always been autobiographical, often fueled by my own repressed trauma. In a world that feels like its ending we can share our frustrations through art.
It can be argued that a painting’s number one job is to make a room look better. I believe painting can also serve as an emotional connection between the maker and the viewer. Because of this connection I propose that all the works in this show are free, or donation based if you desire to take one of these objects home.”
Artist Bio
Sam Foster grew up in Lawrence, Kansas. As a teenager he lost his father to suicide and was enrolled in after-school art programs for affected youth where he was introduced painting and slam poetry. His abstract paintings are influenced by this relationship to language and grief and are also informed by his experience working in mental health and addiction recovery.
Sam received his BFA in Studio Art at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD) in Milwaukee, WI and an MFA from Maharishi International University (MIU) in Fairfield IA. Sam resides in Austin, TX and has been a long-time member of the artist run studios and gallery, Spellerberg Projects.