Curatorial Panalist Tamatha Perlman Dives In to Sea Change

Abounding in blues and whites and warm reds, Samantha French’s paintings immerse the viewer into a world that is free of gravity, sound, and worry. Blue and white paint splashes against each other like water on skin, exacting a cool promise on a hot, sticky day. 

Her figures reside in a quiet world, a momentary respite from the day-to-day.

A Minnesota native and MCAD graduate, French’s series of swimmers and waders began as a nostalgic flashback to youthful summers spent in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Those lakes are an integral part of growing up in Minnesota, where swimming, fishing, boating or fighting crowds of joggers are the prime signatory of summer. Using family photos for inspiration, she began a series of lounging bathing beauties in modestly cut striped suits and bathing caps. Set against a background of slate blue skies the rough brown sand of the shore they evoke a glamour that only old family photos can hold. Their identities obscured through a nostalgic filter these (mostly) women are grandmas and aunts before she knew them. They pose languidly, held in place by a memory captured by someone else long ago.

“Sea Change” however offers views of the present. French moved to New York City in 2007, where swimming pools trump swimming holes. Missing the cool waters of the North Shore, French began snapping her own photos with an underwater camera in the crisp water of hotels and public pools.  These portraits capture swimmers as their bodies freely twist and turn without the self-consciousness of the beachside pose. Infused with light and action, French’s paintings of the present hit all the senses. Three Feet Below depicts a figure just emerging from the water. As seen from below, the water ripples and picks up the colors of bathing suit and skin. The world above is reduced to swirls and distorted shapes. Her arms reflect the light and color that cuts through the surface. In Twist; let go, the swimmer gracefully turns underwater, generously sharing her moment of freedom with the viewer.

The water holds a holy place for French. The scenes above water, like Colony Palms have a tension the underwater scenes don’t. On the shore, bodies are restricted in their movements, unprotected by the water. The figures seem to lose their identity once again on the surface, their interactions rather than playing off of each other appear separate, reinforcing the concept that the summer’s water offers the ultimate freedom and escape.

The paintings in “Sea Change” are also abstract studies of light, water and form. Reflections and refractions bounce off skin. Bodies collide with the surface of the water creating swirls and ripples that capture the colors of sky and pool and suit. Bodies gracefully twist and turn through the water. French carefully lingers on the water’s surface from below, capturing bubbles and waves as they break the body down into planes of reflected and refracted light. “These paintings are still about how I want to feel and escapes and less about nostalgia,” says French. 

French graduated from MCAD with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2005. In 2006 she received an individual artist grant from the Five Wings Arts Council. Last year she won 1st place in the Saatchi Online Showdown and her work will be exhibited at Saatchi Gallery in London. Samantha has shown in several solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States and her work is included in numerous private collections.

Tamatha Perlman is a writer and museum professional . She has written about Minnesota artists for ARP! And the Nash Gallery at the University of Minnesota. Tamatha was the Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program associate 2005-2010.

For more on Sea Change at SooVAC until July 8th.
For more on Samantha French.