Meet Gwen Samuels | Visual Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gwen Samuels and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gwen, we’d love to hear what makes you happy.
I am realizing at this stage in my life that I am fortunate to be an artist. Making art transports me to a place of freedom and happiness where I can focus on building and creating as a distraction from things that worry or scare me.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Please tell us more about your art. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others.

I’m working in mixed media. Rooted in a deep love of the handmade, my practice centers on stitching, mending, and reconfiguring pattern through repetition, building complex surfaces that are both intimate and architectural.
I reference my work as a New Visual Experience because no one is doing what I am doing. My process developed from combining my different skills. My artwork keeps unfolding because of the complex multiple imagery and the unusual use of materials all working together with light.

How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges?

When I moved from the east coast to the west coast in 2001 I made a decision to do my art full time, get an art studio and immerse myself in the experience to build a new life for myself. I wanted to meet artists and become part of an art community. I joined art organizations and strategically donated my work to make connections and become known. Most importantly for me- I met another artist that had similar goals and we became “art buddies” and that was one of my biggest turning points. I had someone to strategize with and that made a big difference for me. I never thought about whether it was hard or easy, intuitively I worked to make the connections. Looking back, that approach worked for me and I met lots of art people that helped me grow as an artist.

What you are most proud of or excited about.

What makes me most proud about my work is that I have discovered that creating my art has always been a place of escape and safety. There have been times when I have been driven to create to better understand my feelings. My art serves me as a means of expression for uncomfortable emotions and memories that disrupt my balance.
My attraction to materials continues to evolve and has become a metaphor: my imagery is my reformatted Photography that records space and time, the Transparency that I print on interacts with place creating shadows, the Thread and Wire are connectors building structure while working together to create balance. Lastly I have come to realize- people want to touch my work which I encourage, having that connection with my viewer.

What are the lessons I have learned along the way?

I have learned so many lessons along the way. I am realizing now that the lessons I need to learn present themselves when I am ready to learn them. I handle all the aspects of my business and some aspects are more important than others to me. Each year I have different intentions which set the tone for how I want to conduct myself. This year I want to build relationships and be open to more select opportunities. With this in mind my show choices will change and I look forward to experiencing that shift.

What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?

My work is complex and made up of my many photographs. The images are in repeat patterns printed on plastic. The plastic is see-thru and the light passing thru creates shadows. There are stitches with strings hanging freely. By combining these materials, I have created a new Visual Language for people that are open to appreciating something they have never seen before, are willing to engage with work that keeps unfolding by interacting with light and love the handmade combined with technology.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live on the west side of LA and there is always something going on close to home.
A typical outing might be lunch at a new place called Beethoven Market and then a walk on Abbott Kinney seeing all the shops and then dinner at Little Fattys. Another day might be a visit to Bergamot Station to look at art and dinner in Venice at Superba. If my friend is from the east coast a late afternoon walk at the water next to the marina at Burton Chace Park in Marina Del Rey with dinner at Planta.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Airport Art Center/studios 3026 is a studio complex at the Santa Monica Airport.

There are over 30 artists that have studios there. I have had a studio there for almost twenty years.
There have been several organizations that have run the studio over the years and each one has
contributed in some way to my development as an artist. Presently the organization running the studio
is CARS (Community Arts Resources) in the short time they have been running us incredible support and
opportunities have become available.

Thank you to CARS at studios 3026

https://airportartscenter.com/studios-3026

Website: https://gwensamuels.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gwensamuels/

Other: https://airportartscenter.com/studios-3026
Have my studio here and it is an incredible place in Santa Monica for art.