Samantha Thompson

Samantha Thompson is a multidisciplinary artist, community art facilitator and regional arts advocate based in regional Victoria, Australia. With a highly successful career spanning over 20 years, Thompson is renowned for her vibrant, feminist artworks, and personality packed sculptural creatures. Thompson has exhibited in numerous galleries across Australia and produced 14 solo shows since 2003. She has also exhibited internationally, and her works can be found in private and public collections worldwide.

Thompson was born in Sydney in 1978 to parents of US/European descent. She credits her experiences in the family fashion business as being instrumental to her progression as a professional artist. Her early ventures in the creative arts saw her developing product shoots and design campaigns for an international fashion label while producing and selling original work. Thompson studied a Bachelor of Studio Textile Design at RMIT University in 2009, majoring in Screen Print and Weave, and graduated from the Victorian College of Arts with a Graduate Certificate in Visual Arts in 2021. In 2022 she commenced her Masters of Contemporary Art at Victorian College of Arts.

While best known for her bold pastel pieces, Thompson’s diverse oeuvre includes textile art, printmaking, mixed media, and most recently, soft sculpture. With bold, uninterrupted lines, playful themes, and strong aesthetics, Thompson’s works are a fluent expression of her optimism and originality. Her layered domestic scenes and confident use of patterns pay homage to her formative studies in traditional textile techniques and traditional women’s work. This unique blend of traditional media and recent research into play and playfulness has paved the way for her recent work Creature comforts, in monoprints and soft sculptures.

Samantha consolidates her art practice with regular roles in the Victorian Arts sector, working with local councils to deliver community-led creative projects and facilitating professional and practical skill development workshops for emerging and established artists from her rural studio.