DVAA Member since October 2016
Samantha M Connors
Website:
About:
Philadelphia based artist, Samantha M. Connors, creates work examining capitalism’s effect on the collective's mental and physical health and the condition of the world around us. They are a multi-disciplinary artist utilizing tactile fiber processes and materials as well as urban detritus to create sculptural forms and objects reflecting on issues surrounding gentrification, chronic illness and harm reduction. Over the past few years Samantha has completed residencies at Pink Noise Projects in Philadelphia, PA, Cassis Artist Residency in Cassis, France, Ora Lerman Trust in Laceyville PA, and The Sable Project in Stockbridge, VT. Samantha holds a BFA in Fiber and Material Studies from Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia. They are the Co-Director of the South Philly gallery, DVAA, and a member of Paradice Palase in Brooklyn, NY.
Artist Statement:
“Within making, I am seeking to initiate conversation and action around wealth inequity, the inherent violence of gentrification, and community rooted trauma. I approach the grid as a framework to navigate change within neighborhoods through digital mapping and rebranding campaigns alongside the physical borders used by developers and actors of the state. My work frequently addresses the fragmented histories left behind by recently displaced people in Kensington and South Philadelphia, utilizing scavenged objects from demolition sites within sculptural works or by creating recreations of the lasting traces demolished buildings leave on the surrounding landscape. Recently I have been constructing hand-built representations of the tools used within construction projects to investigate the lasting mental health effects that occur in the people witnessing their neighborhood rapidly gentrify. My practice embraces the use of craft-based techniques and materials, bringing a homemaking and labor rooted skillset against a scarcity capitalist run world.”
Exhibitions at DVAA:
