Sam Vicary

Recent work includes

RHÔD in ROATH 2017
76 NINIAN ROAD, Cardiff

Signs for our Times is a collaboration with artist Susan Sluglett that involves painted images using environmental household paint attached to Caution A-Frame Safety Signs made from recycled wood. Set down at random intervals on the front lawn, these ‘highlighters’ promote the planting of wild flowers to encourage birds and insects.

With threats to the diversity of bee populations including climate change, loss of habitat and the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, the artists highlight the urgency to be responsible gardeners. ‘Signs for our Times’ is a cautionary tale emphasising the importance of nurturing the often undervalued and marginalised pollinator species that play a vital part in our ecosystem.

susansluglett.com
madeinroath.com
rhod.org.uk

Signs For Our Times: a collaboration with Susan Sluglett

Basic Human Needs
Vegetable Agenda an artist/ grower led initiative
5 June – 26 June 2016

An exhibition in a half built straw bale house and surrounding land that considers Basic Human Needs as a starting point

Oriel Blodau Bach
20 April – 27 May 2016

‘Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature – the assurance that dawn comes after night and spring after winter.‘ Rachel Larson, Silent Spring

A walk in the aftermath of a storm at the beginning of this year confirmed that the lanes and bridal ways around Oriel Blodau Bach are wild and un-kept. They already showed signs of Spring even in the wettest, coldest weather and the promise of renewal.

For me making new work is about showing the ‘struggle’. I leave behind the physical process of drawing, continually over-painting and rejecting marks and colours for the sake of the form. Painting is about finding the correct balance, enjoying the subtlety of the relationship between form and surface. Revealing just enough of the intended.

Framing the smallest patches of land and sky, I realised my expectations of regeneration were replaced with a sense of loss and detachment. I noticed changes in the landscape and a much quieter dawn chorus. Flooding and high winds had felled great trees and paths had been washed away. Instead I saw hedges and trees cleared to make way for fresh tarmac and last year’s patches of flowers had gone. Those spaces reflecting the times and people I have lost in just one year.

Rhodio on the Quay | Rhodio ar y Cei
October 2015

Green Repose III, IV, COLONY 14

‘Nurturing the idea of taming her garden space and the birds that visit, Sam Vicary has a longing to bring them in to her world. Over the years, they have become her little heroes and she recognises the generations of birds that come to visit. Through her paintings, she wants to bring their beauty into the home, juxtaposing them with the interior.

And so a process begins, between life and a memory. Composition is everything, a conflict between balance and tension. Placement of objects, a desire for structure are questioned and challenged by the fleeting moments of the living. Sam works intuitively and spontaneously, in an attempt to catch the perfect moment. Using colour as part of her narrative, Sam is challenging the nature of harmony.’ Rachel Busby, artist

The Garden 2014
17 – 18 August
Contemporary artists exhibit in a garden being brought back to life

A String of Birds, oil on canvas, The Garden 14

Oriel Q
Inside | Out
May – June 2014
Helen Gillam | Jane Harrison | Sam Vicary

Untitled, oil on canvas, 30cms x 30 cms

Rhôd 2014
May 2014

Rhôd Committee explore the theme
Deall y Lle: y filltir sgwâr
You are Here: exploring our square mile
in collaboration with an invited artist

Since 2009, the annual site specific show, Rhôd, requires invited artists to respond to an unique location in Drefelin, Carmarthenshire, providing a platform for exploring the making of art in a rural context.

Feeding Table II, acrylic on paper, 20cms x 20cms