Sam Poole

A Celebration of Vulvas

Clay, acrylic, gloss

A collection of 20, 4" x 5"

Sam Poole

Does Anyone Else

Ever Feel Like a

Piece of Meat?

My work considers and explores the usually contrasting concepts of beauty and the grotesque, through object-making, video, and performance I investigate how they can exist in harmony and compliment one another while still embracing their dissonance. I am interested in fleshy fruits and meats, ornate patterns, and the brilliant bloody hues of our bodies as a means for speaking on queerness and womanhood.

In Trouble

Clay, acrylic, gloss

11"x 5'' x 4"

In Trouble (detail)

Clay, acrylic, gloss

11"x 5'' x 4"

Artist/Thesis Statement

I have developed a language of delicate patterns, composed of elements from ceramic plates and decor, lace, embroidery, and decorative tile. Within this expression there is repetition, asymmetry, and hand painted mistakes. Accepting and utilizing what are initially flaws often allow me to expand my visual vocabulary and reevaluate how to define successfulness within my pieces.

The Rabbit that Reached the Moon

Clay, acrylic, gloss

30"x 5''

I feel connected to the idea that “art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable” (Cesar Cruz). The gruesome brings me solace in my process, and I hope to represent it as a comfort to viewers. Whether it be literal depictions of menstrual blood or ceramic butchery of rabbits, the embrace of these visceral and raw graphic realities represent what it means to have a body that carries pain.