Artist Statement
Samuel is an artist and furniture maker crafting sculptural objects with natural fibers. The approach is experimental and first looks to traditional paper making materials and processes to explore novel techniques for structure and mark making. The objects are bold, material driven forms, organic textures and careful details. Each piece considers the stories we tell through the objects we live with and the role those narratives play in our collective future. The use of natural materials is intentional, and objectively shows our environmental hurdles are not a matter of resources but ingenuity and industriousness.
Accolades
Samuel is a Hyundai Collaborative Research Fellow, a Maharam STEAM Fellow, an alumnus of American Craft Council’s 2024 Emerging Artists Cohort, and is a 2025 recipient of the Vision and Tradition Grant through Territorio Creativo. His work has been shown in multiple institutions including the Museo Nacional de Antropologia (Mexico City), Robert C Williams Museum of Paper Making (Atlanta) and the New Britain Museum of American Art (New Britain, CT) and the RISD Museum (Providence). Samuel has received "Best of Year" and “NYCxDesign” awards from Interior Design Magazine, was listed in Sight Unseen’s 2025 American Design Hot List and, with the support of the RI Foundation and the MacColl Johnson Fellowship, will be in residency at the Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago) summer 2027.
Samuel is currently represented by BCMT Gallery (Kingston, NY).
Exhibitions
2026 Of Threads: Nuevas Herencias, Feria Territorio, Mexico City (fair)
2025 Of Threads: Hecho En Recuerdo, Territorio Galeria, Mexico City (group show)
2025 Vision and Tradition, Museo Nacional de Antropologia, Mexico City (group show)
2025 What Does Fragility Mean to You?, Collectible, New York, NY (fair)
2025 Showhouse, Holiday House Hamptons, Watermill, NY (group show)
2025 Shed Exhibition, BCMT Gallery, Kingston, NY (group show)
2025 There are Six Lamps, Wanted Design, New York, NY (fair)
2025 A Floor Plan of Echoes, 49 Westfield, Providence, RI (group show)
2025 Trazando Dialogos Exhibition, Territorio Galeria, Mexico City (group show)
2024 Sensibility Conversation Exhibition, BCMT Gallery, Kingston, NY (group show)
2024 New Altitudes Exhibition, University of Denver Academic Commons, Denver, CO (group show)
2024 SII Studio Show, SII Gallery, New York, NY (group show)
2024 Curated Exhibition, Collectible Fair, New York, NY (fair)
2024 Nor’Easter 54th Annual Exhibition, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT (group show)
2024 Special Selection Exhibition, Gelman Gallery, Providence, RI (group show)
2024 Exhibition, Territorio Galeria, Mexico City (group show)
2024 Material Opulence, Wanted Design, New York, NY ((fair)
2024 Objects May Shift, Satellite Salone Del Mobile, Milan (fair)
2024 Sustainability in Chaos Juried Exhibition Triennial, Robert C. Williams Museum, Atlanta, GA (group show)
2023 Momentum, Alcova Miami, Miami, FL (fair)
2023 Sustainability in Chaos Juried Exhibition Triennial, NAHP Paper Tides Conference, Providence, RI (group show)
2023 Paper Chemistry, Waterman Gallery, Providence, RI (group show)
2023 Graduate Biennial, Sol Keffler, Providence, RI (group show)
2023 Launchpad, Wanted Design, New York, NY (fair)
2023 Rewilded Domesticity, Wanted Design, New York, NY (fair)
2023 STEAM Room Gallery, Brown University, Providence, RI (group show)
2022 Furniture Triennial, Woods Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI (group show)
Awards & Grants
2025 MacColl Johnson Fellowship Finalist (Through RI Foundation)
2025 Vision and Tradition Grant Award
2025 Sight Unseen American Design Hot List
2025 DesignxRI Design Catalyst Cohort
2024 American Craft Council Emerging Artist Cohort
2024 Visitors Choice Award at the New Britain Museum of American Art
2024 Charles and Ray Eames Award: Excellence in Innovative Design Production
2024 NYCxDesign Winner (Student Category)
2024 SPUR Fund Grant Recipient
2023 Maharam Fellow
2023 Hyundai Collaborative Research Fellow
2023 Interior Design Magazine Best of Year Winner (Student Category)
2023 RISD Graduate Commons Grant Recipient
2023 Windgate Foundation Scholarship Recipient
2023 RISD Grad Conference Grant Recipient
2022 RISD Materials Fund Grant Recipient
Notable Press
Jan 2025, “2025 American Design Hot List”, Sight Unseen
Aug 2024, “The Craft of Sustainable Design”, Pale Blue Magazine
May 2024, “Inspired Research”, Momentum Magazine
May 2024, “A Site for Discovering Contemporary, Collectible Design”, ICFF + Adorno Brand Spotlight
May 2024, “How Should We Live Now?”, Sight Unseen
Apr 2024, “At Milan Design Week, the Power Is Often in the Collection”, New York Times
Mar 2024, “Compostable Commercial Furniture”, Learnings Podcast
Sep 2023, “Design Ingenuity Above Resource Reliance”, stir pad
Education
MFA Furniture Design, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence RI (May 2024)
BS Construction Management, Illinois State University, Normal IL (May 2008)