As her post-graduate residency comes to a close, Samantha Sethi talks with moderator Lisa Dillin about her experiences during her time at the Torpedo Factory. Hear her speak about how Alexandria inspired her work and process.
7:00 Reception, 8:00 Talk
Samantha Sethi
Samantha Sethi sees our world as a landscape that is both inhabited and studied by humankind, altered even as it is observed. It’s both the location and the material of our pursuit of meaning. She blends the physical with the digital in her work. In using natural materials like ice, tar, and sediment, and processes like melting and erosion, she creates works that are both action and images. She records the work in video and also draws or traces it to represent it through time.
During her residency, Sethi pursued the further potential of this work through drawing, digital works, and physical installation.
Sethi is currently based in Washington, D.C. She completed her master’s of fine art at American University in May 2016. She is currently teaching art as an adjunct at AU and will teach at George Washington University in Spring 2017. Sethi completed her bachelor’s of fine art at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Her work has shown in New York, Washington, and Berlin and has appeared in publications including The Washington Post, Time Out New York, and Studio Visit magazine. Sethi was awarded a Mellon grant in 2015 as well as the Elizabeth Van Swinderen Award in 2016.
Lisa Dillin
Lisa Dillin is a Baltimore-based artist working in sculpture as well as participatory art practices. Her work utilizes a variety of processes including wood and metal fabrication techniques as well as digital photography to create objects or experiences that act as a surrogate for the ephemera of nature. These objects and experiences aim to fulfill a need for the user residing in the built environment while pointing out that a man-made substitute cannot adequately quell the desire for contact with the original.
Dillin earned her BFA in photography from Atlanta College of Art in 1998 and her MFA in sculpture from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2006. Her work has been selected for exhibition at various venues including the Baltimore Museum of Art and The Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, MD, Hamiltonian Gallery and Washington Project for the Arts, in Washington, D.C., Vox Populi and Practice Gallery in Philadelphia, PA, as well as Nurture Art and Transmitter in Brooklyn, NY. Art fairs include the Select Art Fair in NYC, Aqua Art Fair and Artist-Run Art Fair in Miami, FL. Dillin was a 2012 Sondheim Prize Finalist, the second place prize winner of the Trawick Awards in 2014, and a 2014 as well as 2017 MSAC Individual Artist award recipient. Dillin is currently the Project Director for the CHM Sculpture Park and Fellowship Program.
