Samantha Carter - July 2023

Artist bio

Samantha Carter is a local visual artist and poet who received her Bachelor’s in Violin Performance from UW-Madison in 2020. While not currently active as a performing musician, she focuses on deepening her creative practice in the mediums of relief print, oil paint, collage, illustration, and photography. Her work has shown in a number of Madison venues including Print & Resist Zinefest, U-Frame-It East, Hot Lunch, Osteria Papavero, Pal-entines at Goodman Community Center, Cafe Domestique on Willy St, the former Dark Horse ArtBar, Tease Art Gallery, and Giant Jones Brewing. Carter is currently a member of the printing cooperative, Polka! Press, a custom framer at U-Frame-It, and a volunteer with Communication Madison.

Show description

Pause: I most often fumble with my camera when I’ve happened upon a moment of wonder at the natural world and want to pause and document the play of light, shape, and color that has momentarily captured my senses. In these five unedited digital photographs, there is a soft, quiet reverence for these special glimmers whose deep presence feels alive beyond time.

Reflect: I collage as an exercise in challenging visual relationships without intellectualization during the composition process. These six in juxtaposition with the photographs thus reveal something of a subconscious mirror. Dreamlike scenes distort and reconfigure organic forms with artificial constructs to reflect a longing for reintegration with nature and basic humanness while entangled with the separation complexes of the modern psyche.