CV

Samantha Wilson (b. 1990) creates figurative drawings and paintings inspired by a self-curated photography archive encompassing over 60 categories. Driven by a keen sense of ethical inquiry, Wilson's work invites viewers to reflect on their relationship with imagery, identity, and empathy in the contemporary world through a unique reimagining of photographic images. She employs visual tensions, leveraging ambiguity and the unresolved through the use of liquid watercolour, powder pigments, charcoal, and oil paint. Bodies, faces, and identities are both revealed and concealed, deliberately straddling abstraction and narrativity. Her paintings raise ethical questions of representation, prompting viewers to consider the responsibilities of both the artist and the observer in responding to contemporary crises. Through this, Wilson emphasises the need for compassionate connections that transcend race, age, gender, and political status.

Rest in Limbo, Samantha Wilson’s first solo exhibition in the UK (opening July 24th July, 2024) emerges as a call to embrace the resting place of discomfort: to support others in their grief while simultaneously confronting our own. It seeks to uncover the transformative potential of human connection in an increasingly fractured world.

Wilson received a BA and MFA in fine art from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee, Scotland (2010-15), and an MRes in Art and Humanities from The Royal College of Art (2023). She is the recipient of numerous awards, including a John Kinross Scholarship to Florence, an RSA New Contemporaries Award, the Eaton Grant, a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) grant, was selected artist for Scottish New Contemporaries at the Royal Scottish Academy and New Scottish Artists, The Flemming Collection Gallery (2015). Recent group exhibitions include Earthwise at Beaconsfield Contemporary, and Inner Workings, at the Cooke Latham Gallery, London (2023). She lives and works in Oxfordshire.

EDUCATION

2021 - Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) scholarship.

2021 - QEST and Cockpit Arts London Professional Development Programme for new QEST scholars.

2021 - The Eaton Fund grant for artists

2017 - Klein Artist Works scholarship.

2016 - Nominee Scottish Variety Award for Best new Scottish artist.

2016 - The W Gordon Smith Award runner up prize.

2015 - The Fife Decorative and fine Arts Society Award. 

2015 - The Duncan of Jordanstone Postgraduate award for best academic performance.

2015 - Royal Scottish Academy John Kinross Scholarship to Florence.

2015 - Friends of the RSA award

2014 - The Alexander Graham Monro Travel Award best work for an artist under 30.

2015 - The William Sangster Phillip's academic scholarship and bursary

2014 - The James Guthrie Memorial Art Prize

2014 - The Hermione Hammond runner up drawing prize.

2010 - The Benni Esposito Drawing Award