At the heart of my art practice lies the somatic experience of inhabiting my body; a mapping and tracking of my inner landscape and physicality. This is a skill that I have developed over many years spent in self-inquiry through the practice and teaching of Yoga, meditation, breath awareness and conscious movement.

From a love of figurative painting, and in particular an interest in the way women’s bodies have been represented in art history, I celebrate the gestures, textures, forms and shapes that describe a body. My main interest lies in the viscerality of these painting expressions rather than a recognisable, figurative narrative.

I feel empathy when I draw and for me a sense of caring touch is important when I’m making.  I am a shape seer and a form finder and this comes through in my drawings and paintings. I explore the realms and layers of oil paint and the vibrancy of colour that it allows, not to mention the fleshiness that the medium is perfect for portraying.

I am currently studying Painting at a Post-Graduate level at the Dunedin School of Art, giving me opportunity to investigate my process and methodology and develop a new body of research and art work. I acknowledge and remain aware of my positionally as an inherent part of my art making research. I explore painting living in a mother’s body, a birthing body, a body undergoing the ongoing changes of my female reproductive experience and the part of me trying to make sense of contemporary motherhood from a cisgender Pākehā woman’s perspective.

Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing any of the paintings below. samloe@mac.com