If Studio Gallery was represented as a work of art, a viewer’s eyes would be drawn to the creative efforts displayed on the canvas by our member artists, but a work is more than what’s laid out as the central piece. There’s the frame, wiring, lighting, and labeling that might be less noticed by viewers but undoubtedly contribute to the overall presentation of the work, and one can think of these elements akin to Studio Gallery staff contributions. Once a light shining down upon our artists’ work, former intern Samantha Van Heest has moved into center stage through the continued development of her own artistic practice. Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting Samantha in her post-graduate residency space at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, VA, which she occupied until the end of July, to catch up about life post-Studio Gallery and to pick her brain about her creative process this year.
Samantha pictured with her painting, Eyes Up Here.
Photo credits: Sara Y Zhu
Walking into her space, I unintentionally interrupted Samantha as she was at her desk arranging and orienting together numerous silica gel packets that she had been given by other residents at the Factory, with several others strewn on the wall with notations. As the conversation began to unfold, I learned that in her practice, Samantha is focused on choosing relatively mundane subjects and positions them as a form of elevation, aiming to create a dialogue around consumption, repetition, and memory. Through this current packet-based endeavor, Samantha is building off of her interest in throwaway produce labels as shown in her Ritual (2024 - Present) series. With this, Samantha noted that a goal of hers throughout this residency is to be more intentional regarding how her chosen medium aligns with the work and message that she wants to convey, with a large part being a further exploration into 3D space.
Samantha’s sewing station and desk at the Torpedo Factory Arts Center
Photo credits: Torpedo Factory Arts Center
Reaching for her copy of New Discoveries in American Quilts by Robert Bishop, Samantha mentioned that she has been coupling this goal of venturing into 3D space with her existing pursuits of placing an emphasis on the creation and life of objects that don’t garner much thought or attention, such as crafts being separated and viewed differently than the arts as a whole. Through historical texts and visits to exhibitions such as Woven Histories, Textiles and Modern Abstractions at the National Gallery of Art, she has spent time thinking about handmade fabrics, quilting work, and textile practices. These artistic techniques have traditionally been sidelined in the artistic sphere due to their history being intertwined with marginalized groups, and the likelihood of being viewed as a product, such as a blanket or shirt, rather than a canvas on the wall. Samantha is interested in weaving herself into this history by utilizing these practices in her work in a contemporary way, while fully heeding their disenfranchised past.
Ritual Quilt (Detail), quilted cotton blend, ~24” x 36” each, 2023
Around this time, an older woman walked into the studio, with a smile on her face that was equaled only by Samantha’s upon seeing her. After a quick introduction, I learned that this was one of Samantha’s students, Sharon, who is part of a class that she teaches each Wednesday. Watching the two interact, I wasn’t taken by surprise by the kind and confidence-bolstering words shared by Sharon about her teacher, who stressed to me that she wouldn’t dream of missing a class from her. As an artist, it is of the utmost importance that you believe in your own abilities and to remain steadfast to your creative vision or message, and teaching has aided Samantha in solidifying her confidence, which she credits as the backbone of her progress. While finding fulfillment through teaching and seeing students express excitement about their progress, Samantha is validating her own skill set and gaining assurances about her qualifications as an artist, teacher, and mentor.
A close-up of a workstation in Van Heest’s space
Photo credits: Torpedo Factory Art Center
Sitting back down, Samantha mentioned that she encourages her students, younger and older, to visit and be involved in artistic spaces, as they served her well on her artistic formation and can provide access to artists for advice, shed light on creative processes, and create a sense of you-can-do-it-too-ness for aspiring artists. Samantha is of the mindset that pursuing an artistic career is worth the effort and that if you want to make it work, whether that’s carving out time after work, in between classes, or early in the morning, you will. With this, she mentioned her experience of visiting Studio Gallery member-artist Miriam Keeler’s home studio, which she wrote about last year in her blog In the Studio with Miriam Keeler, sharing thoughts of how it was “inspiring to hear that art can and will be made, regardless of your given resources.”
A visual representation wall in Van Heest’s space
Photo credits: John Swords
Remarking on her time at Studio Gallery, Samantha stressed the importance of the trust and freedom afforded to her by former Studio Gallery Director, Halley Stubis, to pursue projects tailored to her own interests, allowing her to gain experience in communications through exhibition opportunities, blog posts, and social media activities. As someone who is certainly serious about furthering her artistic career, she recognizes the importance of being on top of having a solid online presence as well as communicating an artist statement and creative messages clearly, skills that were strengthened through her time at the gallery.
When not in her post-graduate residency space or teaching, she regularly engages with emerging and established art spaces in the DMV area, such as Rat Gallery, where she recently exhibited and continues to visit. Outside of this, she immerses herself in literary and artistic resource discussions with friends and colleagues, noting this as she pulls out a marked-up print out of Susan Sontag’s Against Interpretation, one of the many texts that either disrupts or validifies how she interacts with the artistic world around her. Samantha spends time thinking not only about how she moves through the art world, but also about what art is at its core, and what contributes to experiencing and creating it. With this, she recognizes that enjoying reading and collecting information is a benefit to her, as a lot of her creative process circles around finding physical items or imaginative ideas of interest, researching them in depth, and figuring out why she is drawn to them.
Undoubtedly, Samantha has a bright artistic imagination and career ahead of her, and I let her know that both I and the Studio Gallery community are watching with awe as she continues this journey. You can view more of her work on our previous exhibitions tab or through her own personal website.
Written by Staff Contributor John Swords