Samantha Fields
Samantha Fields, Wallpapered Space II, 2007 (detail)
vinyl siding, yarn, afghans, wall paper patterns, and 2x4’s, dimensions variable
Lent by the Artist
Samantha Fields is a sculptor and installation artist whose work is focused on domestic objects, spaces, and architectures. By mixing and layering these things, often in exaggerated sizes, and placing them in unexpected circumstances, the artist devises startling experiences that stimulate memory and emotion.
Her installations created for DeCordova’s Window Gallery are puzzles of place. In Curtain Mother–the mother of all curtains–the Museum’s sixteen-by-sixteen foot facade window is dressed up with layer upon layer of fabric, which turns institutional architecture into something domestic, and oddly terrifying. In Wallpapered Space II, vinyl siding, wallpaper patterns, and afghan blankets come together to confuse both outdoors and indoors, and insulation methods used for our bodies and our homes. The unsettling aspects of this looking-glass world are tempered by the artist’s exuberant play with color, pattern, and texture. — Nick Capasso, Curator
“Home is a stage supporting mythic roles. It’s the setting for an everyday spectacle. And when we cross away from the threshold, we inevitably play a different role than the one inside. The walls, the primary objects of a house, function as literal boundaries, space dividers, where public and private are kept at a constant, dueling and commingling. What is revealed when these walls are removed? It is within this question that I place my work.
Most of my materials are found and have been used: indoor/outdoor furniture, building supplies, and fabric - which are then dislocated. Each has a latent, embedded story that is never absent despite my attempt to re-arrange, re-gather, and re-present. I have focused on specific, universal elements (or coded sites), such as curtains, to begin investigating power structures by way of exorbitant, feminine, passive-aggressive excess, or perhaps simply the revealing of a hierarchy –of who gets the mashed potatoes first.” — Samantha Fields
Samantha Fields will present an Artist Talk on Saturday, May 12 at 3 pm.
She will also be the Guest Artist for the Eye Wonder Family Program on Sunday,
May 20, drop-in from 1 - 3 pm.
