Artist: Samantha Reali
Exhibition Title:  In Third Person
Exhibition Dates: April 8 - 12, 2024
Reception and Gallery Talk:  April 11, 5:30 –7:30 p.m. (talk at 6:00 p.m.)

Artist's Statement

While asleep I am confronted by the disturbing, the ridiculous, and the whimsical creations of my subconscious. This is a spiritual phenomenon that I care to explore but hope to never fully understand. Through painting, I recreate memories of past dreams, generating vibrant and surreal narratives often driven by the suspenseful or the absurd. I craft fragmented and organically shaped surfaces, where saturated colors accentuate the dance between tight and loose brush strokes, forming both my figures and the world they inhabit. This work engages in a dialogue with the Surrealists and Dadaists of the 1910s-1930s, artists who utilized a sense of absurdity to explore and communicate various aspects of the human condition.

Artist Biography

Samantha Reali is an interdisciplinary artist who analyzes her unique perception of personal relationships through dream-like narratives. Her practice and personal life are fueled by introspective curiosity, making creating art an act of intimate self-discovery. An exploration of dreams and memory stands in the forefront as the artist translates complex narratives into surreal, saturated, and ambiguous images.

Reali was born and raised in Staten Island, New York, where she grew up consistently interested in the magic of creating. She attended SUNY Cortland in Cortland, New York, earning a BFA in studio art with honors. She is pursuing her MFA in Studio Art at the University of South Carolina.