SAMANTHA Hanna, a contributor to the “Collide” art exhibition showing at Sawtell Art Gallery until 14 March, was mistakenly described as a fledgling artist in NOTA’s recent report.
In fact Samantha has enjoyed a 27-year career in the design industry.
“I moved from Sydney to Sawtell in April 2023, built a studio and have been madly creating ever since,” Samantha said.
After completing studies in interior design, she won a scholarship to further her education in Florence, Italy.
On her return she worked in carpet and rug design for various manufacturers, involving trips to Kathmandu, Nepal to work with weavers.
In more recent years, Samantha’s career involved design inputs for residential and commercial projects.
Contributing to “Collide” allows her to explore another of her passions: photography.
“The surrounds of this heavenly part of the world ignited my latest body of work in ‘Collide’,” she said.
“The images portrayed are micro shots of jellyfish and seaweed depicting a deliberate reflective human-like tangible object, giving the sense of female floating seahorses from the underwater world.”
The “Ocean Tribalism” works featured in the exhibition evoke an oceanic neck piece, with versatile accessories including black coral, shark eggs and a vintage lock pendant.
The “Seaweed Butterflies” are created from images depicting hand-picked seaweed, submerged in water and photographed with a macro lens, then given multiple layers of an encaustic wax for preservation, giving the work a dream-like milky texture.
“I have poured my heart and soul into this body of work and I’m so grateful to all the Sawtell community that came to support me on opening night.”
By Andrea FERRARI
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