Hi, my name’s Samantha. I love to paint glass jars; I’m intrigued by their timeless beauty, functionality and lack of social value. The value of a store-bought glass vase and lack of value of a repurposed glass jar is something I find interesting and worthy of exploring further. The conceptual framework and metaphors found throughout my artworks are as important to me as the tangible outcomes. Currently, I’m exploring,

  • ‘natural’ vs ‘artificial’

  • relationships between evolving ‘beauty’ and ‘aging’ expectations

  • unlearning European-settler-colonialism mindsets and listening to Aboriginal perspectives

A little about me…

Most people call me Sam, which is much easier than pronouncing Tau-le-Ah!-le-Ah!-usu-mai (short-sharp-raised- middle ‘Ah!’ sound). My surname stems from my husband's paternal family and through a Samoan legend tells the story of a young warrior rising early in the morning to rid the village of the evil Chief Tagaloa. The traditional Samoan spelling is Taule ’ale’ ausumai and it translates to young male (Taulealea) rising up early (Usu mai'). Also interestingly (if you're phonetically-inclined), when I was last in Samoa, Samoans pronounced the T sound as an English k /’Kah’ sound.

Some things most people don't know about me…

I’m in love with Spanish (both reading and speaking equally). One of my most desired life goals is to dream in this beautiful language. 

I’m a piano enthusiast and I’m infatuated with practising sight-reading sheet music. This translation process and the connections between observation, dicipline and muscle memory are something which I’d love to actively incorporate into my painting methodologies.

I’m a new mum; my son Atlas was born in March 2021 and I welcomed my baby girl Viola in April 2022. Becoming a mum has completely transformed the way I paint and my day-to-day processes. I’ve discovered being an artist and being a mother to be an unexpected symbiotic relationship, where balancing discipline with fluidity is essential.

Some recent thoughts…

  • home-familiarity-safety, keep exploring this line of enquiry

  • Structuring my painting time in sections and sticking to the alarms yields better results than spending endless hours and stopping from exhaustion; set a timer for painting sessions.

  • repurposing material which is destined to be thrown out into sculptered/molded flowers-cardboard, paper bags etc/ staging rubbish and painting their silhouettes - continue this line of enquiry