EMPTY SEATS: Meet the Artist - Samantha Jones

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Samantha Jones is a visual artist and curator based in Kawartha Lakes, where she lives with her partner Bruce, daughter Mattea, and their two dogs, Sunny and Benny.

Working primarily in drawing, but sometimes other media, she engages time‑based processes to explore her relationship with the body and the surrounding natural and unnatural environments. 

EXHIBITION STATEMENT

The maple leaf has been a recurring emblem in my artistic practice since the COVID‑19 pandemic, serving as a way to reflect on my Canadian identity.

While creating work in response to Councillor Tracy Richardson’s unjust experiences during her appointment, I found myself returning to the values I was taught growing up—peace, equality, and respect—qualities I once believed to be inherently Canadian.

By incorporating the maple leaf into the works for this project, I hope to remind viewers of the innate value of all people within our community and of the shared principles that should guide us, not divide us, especially within Canadian politics.