Recently GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine interviewed Samantha Walrod in her studio about her show at Newspace Gallery.

GC: So these are your Paintings. Would you call them Abstract Realism?

Walrod: I call them abstract and there are elements - it’s like collage painting there are elements of realism.

GC: So they’re collage, they’re not just acrylic or oil?

Walrod: Yep, photo based and acrylic. The photos are generally under layers of paint.

GC: How do you put your photos on the canvas?

Walrod: I collage them with paint and stuff.

GC: And you do diptyches, is that a diptych?

Walrod: I don’t always, but this is sort of an experimentation on composition. I do tree forms coming out of left field or outside of the frame so I thought I would have a bit of a reveal and talk about where it’s coming from.

GC: And these are canvas, masonite?

Walrod: Yep.

GC: Do you prefer the masonite over the canvas?

Walrod: It allows me to draw on it, a hard surface so I can drip things on it and it reacts differently than the canvas. Actually I haven’t used canvas for years, I am thinking about returning to it though so I can start sewing into the canvas, just see how the materials work with that.

GC: You seem to work small and large. Do you ever work in between, or is there a size you prefer?

Walrod: Well I am definitely comfortable working small. I am trying to push myself into working large. Since I graduated I have had a problem working large because of the space and light, so when I first started working large I was working at Art Central and the lighting wasn’t super fantastic. I would take the pieces outside the studio and I was really shocked to see what they looked like because they looked totally different in the lighting than what they looked like in the studio. So I was not very happy with the space and materials I had. So I went to the Banff Centre and they had a huge studio for me to use so I was able to step back use the lighting, use the space, use the facilities and these are some works I started at the Banff Centre.

GC: How long were you at Art Central?

Walrod: Right after I graduated last summer I got a four month free space there in the basement, but it was too expensive to stay there so I returned to my home and worked there. I was working in one room half the size of this and I did make a few successful large pieces, but for the most part I felt I was limited. Now I have the studio, I can step back and appreciate the space. The larger the pieces the more they deal with atmosphere. The smaller pieces, they’re easier to let go of. I don’t worry about them because they are so small, so each size has a benefit.

GC: So your working with atmosphere in the larger ones. Is there atmosphere in the smaller ones?

Walrod: Yeah, it’s there, but it’s not as present because of the size.

GC: Do you use stencils?

Walrod: I use silk screen.

GC: How long were you at the Banff Centre?

Walrod: Three weeks residence self directed, so I was able to look at the world and document it and use the new ideas. My paintings are sort of a diary just pulling out day to day experiences like the reference to C-Train seats. I’m definitely interested in nature and organic forms.

GC: I can see how being in Banff would influence your work. Do you feel there was one particular direction you were pulled?

Walrod: Originally I was interested in looking at all the kitch, that’s what I thought would interest me most, but I was really interested by the Natural History Museum. I still have not processed everything that happened at the Banff Centre, but I think in the future work I do, that these animals will work their way into my paintings. I have a lot of sketches and notes from my time in Banff which I will use later.

GC: So what type of things do you use in your collage?

Walrod: Silk screens, ink, acrylic and fabric I am not going for rendering, more for the material qualities.

GC: Like the way you handle the paint?

Walrod: Yes. And I am really interested in comic books, Japanese comic books and their flatness and delicate lines.

GC: Yes I can really see that style. Has that influenced you a lot?

Walrod: Yes. It’s also my energy, sometimes I am really delicate sometimes really energetic. That’s the look I go for.