Samantha Mitchell

Totems and Topographies, February 2012

Grizzly Grizzly is pleased to present Totems and Topographies, a solo exhibition of work by Samantha Mitchell, the winner of our viewer's choice award during Other Possible Titles. This exhibition features works on paper that investigate the inherent chaos and order within natural structures, combining precise pen and ink drawing with spontaneous watercolor washes.

Interested in ideas of geological change and destruction, Mitchell draws inspiration from the striated rocks of the Utah desert and driftwood from the shores of Lake Michigan for this elegant body of work. Using direct observation, photographic devices, and scientific analysis, Samantha Mitchell activates the history of inert specimens by finding the intricate patterns of order within. She is ultimately interested in the tension of organic formation; in her own words, "we witness both revelation and destruction, formation and deconstruction through the agents of time, leaving the dismembered, altered remains of a once cohesive structure that lend themselves to this alternate order."

Samantha Mitchell comes to Grizzly Grizzly after participating in our first call-for-entries group exhibition in November 2011, Other Possible Titles. Throughout the duration of this show, Grizzly Grizzly asked the audience to vote on their favorite piece in the exhibition with the winner receiving a solo show. Over the course of this month-long exhibition, over 900 people cast their vote, choosing Samantha Mitchell for this exciting exhibition.

Artist Bio

Samantha Mitchell has exhibited her work at the Woodmere Art Museum and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, and internationally in Tel Aviv and Berlin. She is a current MFA candidate at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 2012.