Sam Drake graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 2016 and is currently living and studying in Providence, USA. We first came across Sam's work at the RSA New Contemporaries show in 2017. and have been following the development of his practice with an inquisitive eye ever since. Sam has exhibited his work internationally and several of his works exist in public and private collections.
Sam very kindly answered some questions for us and we would like to share them with you...
Firstly, following your graduation from Glasgow School of Art in 2016, you've spent
time in Madrid and now Rhode Island. How have these ventures influenced your practice? Have you found there to have been different ways of studying that were perhaps unfamiliar to you?
I was lucky enough to receive the Richard Ford Travel award in the summer 2014 during my second year of art school. The purpose of the scholarship was for figurative artists to study at the Museo Del Prado for over a month. This opportunity was unforgettable, having that amount of time to sit with an incredible collection of artworks was invaluable. I’m extremely influenced by Spanish painters, especially Velazquez, Goya and Zurbaran. Those painters and the works they have in the Prado still resonate with me on a daily basis.
Moving to Providence, Rhode Island to study for my MFA in painting was a huge jump and a gamble but being in such an exciting environment such as RISD has really enabled me to reflect and concentrate on my practice. The painting program is very intense but very rewarding. There are only nine of us on the course along with a large faculty including notable painters such as Angela Dufrense, Jennifer Packer and Jackie Gendel. I have been lucky enough to experience an insightful painting education from both Glasgow School of Art and Rhode Island School of Design in which there is a deep admiration for the dialogue of paintings. The process and development of painting is key to both of the schools discourse so I haven’t experienced any major unfamiliarity in terms of study. Since being in America I have been exposed a greater number of Artists/galleries/Museums which has been incredibly influential.
Your work, you could say, has a distinguishable style- of thinly applied oil paint and watercolour- in some cases the surface looks weathered- the image fragmented in areas. Is there a reason behind this or is it a way of painting that comes quite organically to your practice?
Recently I have been working a lot with the ground of the painting, specifically the manipulation of under-paintings, I use various monochromatic under-paintings as starts, these are applied very thinly over a slippery Oil ground. I have always painted thin, but recently I have been
trying to extend my discourse with translucency really pushing how much information is needed to reference the subject.
I’m searching for painting which isn’t concerned with any type of certainty, but situates itself within the intangible: where states of interruption flutter between what is actually there in front of you and what is reminisced. I aim for my paintings to be humble: to reside with notions of obscurity, translucency and timelessness. My pictures deal in fragments of observed images and half-remembered scenes constructed from found imagery and sketches. The reading or unraveling of the work can be slow or difficult, but I want this to echo their construction: Immediate recognizable marks intertwined beside passages of unhurried and sluggish residue.
The 'scenes' that you paint are quite varied- from interiors, to initiations, though in the majority of cases you include figures. Where do you gather these images from? Are there historical references to your paintings?
Recently the initial steps of the painting start from my imagination, I get an idea for a composition or theme and then start to make drawings or watercolors. These ideas often come from historical paintings recently I have been inspired by Titian’s ‘Flaying of Marsyas’, El Greco’s ‘The Burial of Count Orgaz’ and Francisco Goya’s ‘The Burial of the Sardine’. From these scraps I seek photographic imagery to which I make various collages. The source material is often from online sources but I often use models for required poses. I then build up a more robust collage or image in which a painting is made in response.
Could you tell us a little about the process you go through to arrive at a completed painting? To what extent does your printmaking practice play a part in this?
I have a semi-traditional approach in terms of painting. I typically start with a coloured underpainting which changes according to the desired palette. After this I work very thinly in transparent glazes which vary in opacity. I often try to mimic my application of oil paint to how I apply watercolour to paper. My process has a continual engagement with degradation and refinement. The painting goes through a contestant battle with this tipping point until both the surface and subject begin to react and rip.
I make a lot of Monotypes by using a silkscreen in which I paint the whole image onto the mesh and then use a squeegee and a transparent medium to transfer the image through to the support which is usually Etching paper. The Monotypes at first provided a step in-between
sketching/ collaging and the Oil painting. Recently the monotypes are becoming more of their own thing rather than a tool for another translation. What I’m particular drawn to and seduced by is their power to emit a source of light and translucency, their ability to hold information whilst allowing for marks of degradation and surprise. The process is very interesting to me mainly due to the fact it creates a unification both within the subject matter and the image itself. Though its construction, the monotype is made by pushing a resolved whole image through mesh onto a different substrate in one move. I’m seduced by this immediacy and completeness.
Finally, What are your plans for after your time at RISD? Do you plan on returning to the UK to work as a practising artist?
I’m dreaming about moving to New York and getting a studio, but whether that will remain a fantasy or become a reality I do not know. I’m applying for various residencies and fellowships all over and seeing what sticks, but it’s likely that I will return to the UK to work as a practicing artist. Whether thats Glasgow or London I’m not sure yet. I miss Scotland.
More of Sam's work can be found here: http://www.samdrake.info