Get To Know: Abstract, Sculptural Painter Samantha daSilva

18 Q & A's​

1. Where is your studio located? What are past locations of your studio?

My current studio is located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Previously, I have lived and worked on the Big Island of Hawaii, Maui, and Calgary, Canada. 

2. Where were you born? Where did you grow up? Where do you reside now?

I was born in the coastal city of Santos, Brazil. When I was 10 years old my family immigrated to Canada. In 2015 I enrolled in yoga teacher training in Salt Lake City. I met my husband in a yoga class, and moved to Hawaii in 2016. We were there until Kilauea Volcano erupted in 2018. We were evacuated and eventually relocated to Salt Lake City to be closer to family and friends.

3. Describe what your childhood was like.

My childhood was a happy, idyllic time. Although we lived in the very crowded metropolis of Sao Paulo, we spent weekends in the country with my grandparents; barefoot, laughing and immersed in the natural world. Art was a natural part of my life from an early age. I grew up watching my grandmother paint using oils, my grandfather make figurative drawings using pen and ink, my aunt design jewelry, and my mother doing homework for her Fine Arts degree. I was also introduced to works by other artists in the family; namely great aunts, uncles, and cousins.

4. How old were you when you realized you wanted to be an artist? Was there a particular event or moment when you suddenly knew you wanted to be an artist?

Upon graduating high school, I opted out of attending art school for a career path that was ‘safer’ and ‘more secure’. But life has a magnetic force that pulls you back to where you need to be. Ten years and an array of tumultuously revelatory experiences led me back to my initial love: art. 

From the beginning, Plan A was to become a happy, successful, extremely well-fed artist. There was no Plan B. The year was 2008.

5. Do you have any artistic connections in your family?

Yes, my mother is a practicing artist. She paints byzantine inspired paintings using acrylics paints and metallic foils. She also loves to paint birds. She is currently merging her 2 passions: the human figure & birds with a series called "Spirit Animals".

6. What is your educational background and artistic training?

I dropped out of art school because I felt that for my personality, it was going to clip my wings instead of give me wings. My process is a result of thousands of hours of experimentation. In 2012 I participated in the Artist Outreach Program offered by Liquitex in New York.

7. What is the inspiration for your work?

Having travelled extensively and acquired (nearly) three citizenships, the common themes in my work are home, belonging and the inexorable passage of time. If home is where the heart is, then by its simplest definition, home is where we are.

​I infuse the environment into my work in an attempt to feel like I belong to where I am. In Utah, I use mainly:  salt, sand, foraged wood shavings, plaster, metallic pigments and local newspaper to create ethereal, sculptural abstracts.

8. Why did you choose your subject matter?

I became frustrated with having to learn the "rules" and having to do things "the  right way". The fact that I never learned how to draw added to my disdain for anything other than abstraction. Abstract Expressionism offered the sense of freedom and 'wild abandon' I craved. Acrylic paints gave me the freedom to experiment, change my mind, and come up with my own rules as I went along. It's an extremely liberating medium.

9. How did you develop your technique?

Looking back, there were several formative experiences that informed my technique:
​
Learning watercolor painting from my mother
Dying my clothes in High School with bleach, beet juice and tea
Painting home exteriors as a summer job in college using a paint roller
Incorporating decay elements into my work namely: peeling paint, rust, and weathering canvases by burying them and exposing them to the elements

10. Who are your major influences?



​My visual arts influences are:

​
Tracy Emin
Helen Frankenthaler
Elizabeth Neel
Agnes Martin
 

My philosophical influences are:

Eckhart Tolle
Mahatma Gandhi
Ram Dass
Thich Nat Han

11. What artist organizations, guilds, and/or societies do you belong to?



I am an artist in residence at Workshop SLC in Salt Lake City, Utah.



12. What awards and honours have you received?

​
Winner of Best Interior Design, Northern Wasatch Parade of Homes, Layton, USA​ (2020)
Commission Painting, Alta View Hospital, Intermountain Health Care,​ Sandy, USA (2020)
Commission Painting, Mountain America Credit Union Corporate Office, West Jordan, USA (2020)

13. What major shows or publications have you been featured in?
​
"Becoming Fearless" by Danielle Vigueria Summer 21 Issue, Western Home Journal, Park City, Utah (2021)​
Friends of the Great Salt Lake, ​The Alfred Lambourne Prize, Salt Lake City, USA​, juried exhibition​ (2020)
DOTE Magazine, Cover Image,​ Issue 6, Spring/Summer Edition, Calgary, Canada (2017)

14. What have people said about your art?

The 10 most popular adjectives used to describe my work are:

calm
beautiful
magnetic
meditative
peaceful 
provocative
sensual
sophisticated
spiritual
"zeny"

Recently, someone described my work as "sacred". I really appreciate that. I see myself as a channel and as a co-creator with sources. I am grateful that this influence can be felt by the viewer. 

15. What are 2-3 non-art related hobbies or interests?

Reading 
Writing 
Yoga

16. If you are not a full time artist, describe your non-art work, and how you feel it relates to your art.

N/A

17. As an artist, what is your mission?

To share my belief that the art-making process is a catalyst for transformation and personal empowerment. I am living proof.

Shop the Collection