Sam Mathers

My work is a visual diary of my travels around the world and day to day normal life experiences. They document the iconic and instantly recognizable as well as the odd and interesting. I’m fascinated by the back story – the cultural history behind the well-known images, along with scientific rules and the mechanics of how things work.

I explore these ideas within a graphic sensibility and play with scale, depth, text, current and old media, languages, currencies and slang to create a multilayer of meaning – the opportunity for each viewer to find and connect with something different.

I deliberately create scratches, paint drips and weather-beaten marks to add character and a natural look, while using an unnatural colour palette.

I enjoy the immediacy of acrylic paint, the effects of oil sticks, bold and complimentary colours and the fun of seeing where a drawn line will take me. It’s a journey back to the memory of a place and time, to the iconic, the familiar and the quirky.