artist, maker, educator

*sam shamard

(*not always in that order)

Sam is a Mexican-American artist and educator living and making in Austin, Texas. She received her MFA in Visual Art from Clemson University and her BFA in Art Education from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (UMHB), during which she also attended Studio Arts College International in Florence, Italy. Prior to attending graduate school, Sam worked as a middle school art teacher in Central Texas. Her work has been shown in multiple galleries and museums internationally including DAAP Galleries at University of Cincinnati, Mason Gallery, the American Museum on Ceramics, ATHICA Athens Institute, and Women’s Studio Workshop. Sam is Assistant Professor of Art and Art Education Program Coordinator at UMHB in Belton, Texas.

artist statement

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artist statement *

Utilizing clay, fiber, paper, print, and found object, my work explores the complexities and pitfalls of identity and emotionality. Each piece poses a question or thought based on what it is like to peel yourself open and share snippets of grief, depression, anxiety, headache, menstruation, exhaustion, overwhelm. Works and their associated titles are drawn from daily experiences and conversations with students, friends, and family, especially my 88-year-old grandmother. Playing on features of my own identity and experience as a mixed Latina woman from the south, I wiggle through both critique and glamorization of performative femininity and religiosity, dwelling on the talismans we cling to as we attempt to survive daily life in 21st century America.