© 2007 Samantha Lautman
C.V. and Artist Statement
Samantha Lautman
(510) 981-8122
oreilia @hotmail.com
Education:
2003, B.F.A., Printmaking, California College of the Arts, Oakland, CA.
Exhibitions:
2009, Residency Projects, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA.
2008, The Cabinet II, Rowan Morrison Gallery, Oakland, CA.
2008, There!, di Rosa Preserve, Napa, CA.2007, I.O.U., Mission 17, San Francisco, CA.
2007, Iter-iteration, NurtureArt, Brooklyn, NY.
2007, Cultivating Creativity, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA.2006, Terror?, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, CA.
2006, Multiples, 21 Grand, Oakland, CA.
2006, Virus Show, Lobot Gallery, Oakland, CA.2005, 30 Something, SFMOMA Artist’s Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005, 50 Cents, (solo show) Buzz Gallery, Oakland, CA.
2005, The Hive, 2051 San Pablo, Berkeley, CA.2004, Group Show, Nexus Gallery, Berkeley, CA.
2004, Interface, Oliver Art Center, Oakland, CA.2003, The Cabinet, 21 Grand, Oakland, CA.
2003, Yozo Hamaguchi Scholarship Show, Isabelle Percy West Gallery, C.C.A.,
Oakland, CA.
2003, B.F.A. Thesis Show, Isabelle Percy West Gallery, C.C.A., Oakland, CA.
Awards:
2008, Fellowship Artist Award, Kala Art Institute
2003, Yozo Hamaguchi Printmaking Scholarship.
Web Bibliography:
ArtFever.Blogspot.com, Bob Callaway, September 2006 and February 2007.
“Milk Money,” by Tara Goe, Tales From Third Place, August 2005.
www. third-place. org“Penny Arcade,” by John Casey, The Eastsider, Fecal Face, July 2005.
www. fecalface. com
My prints are like fossils leaving impressions on paper –they preserve the memory of the people and places around me. Portraits, cityscapes and domestic interiors are etched onto non-traditional printmaking surfaces such as pennies, transportation tickets, or fake credit cards. These are objects that leave a trace of their own significance that contributes to my drawn imagery.
The piece “Twin Castle” is based on what was my favorite place to get lunch on the way to the studio. Everything they made was delicious including hamburgers, tamales, fish sandwiches, and Chinese food. A Vietnamese family ran the business, which I pictured naively as the embodiment of the American Dream. Several months ago Twin Castle closed awaiting demolition to make way for a bloc of condos.
The fake credit card paintings are metaphors for desiring the unattainable. The images depict things a person might want but may be unachievable: the dream of home ownership, a successful small business, or something intangible like family happiness. The drawings were first engraved into fake, promotional credit cards (the plastic or cardboard ones that come in the mail accompanied by a “pre-approved” application) and then printed as one would a traditional etching plate. The numbers and words “your name here” are embossed from the pressure, but stamped across the image in reverse they undermine the hopeful potential implicit in each scene.