Happy new year, friends. I hope this finds you happy and healthy, wherever and whenever you're reading this.
Studio-wise, 2021 was a productive and exciting year. After a year or two of casting a wide net and skimming the surface of various imagery and content, I took a deep dive into one particular facet of my research and started a new series of still lifes: single object portraits of various packing materials and containers. I started the series thinking about the word "containment" and its myriad applications... which seemed especially relevant during our shared experiences of lockdown and quarantine. The work grew from that into an exploration of void fill, fluff freight, and dunnage. Or, to put it another way, "the things we use to fill empty space."
Bubble wrap, air pockets, and other kinds of recycled paper are temporary objects by design. They are critically important while in transit - offering a kind of cushioning, protection, or armor to something precious - but once they reach their destination, they are almost always immediately discarded. How many times have you gotten a box in the mail, only to immediately rip off the tape and dig through the "filler" to find the prize inside? What do you do with all that filler once it's in a pile on your floor?
I'm thinking about the things we surround ourselves with, both the literal and the metaphorical. I'm thinking about the protective spells we cast, the magical thinking we employ, and the 6' air pockets we've been maintaining around ourselves and each other of late. And, always, I'm thinking about the duality of absence and presence, the inevitability of emptiness, and the volume of silence.
And with that, we're back to our regularly scheduled monthly blog posts in the new year. That's my intention anyway, and I'll make every effort to stick to it.
Here's what's on tap this month. If you're in any of these areas, and have a chance to stop by the shows, please let me know! I'd love to hear from you. And if not, I'll be sure to share photos here as well as on instagram - follow along (at) samantha.haring.
Immaterial Things
13th Annual Drawing Discourse
Miniature Show
Cheers,
Sam
