My artwork is a response to the two significant cultural encounters in my life, Italy (4 months in 2002) and Sweden (2006-2008). In addition, under my culture-seeking belt are experiences like a workshop at The Glass Furnace, Istanbul, and trips with a group named VOSH (Voluntary Optometric Services for Humanity) with my father, where we traveled to Central America and Tanzania.

The collecting, organizing and categorizing of human remnants has influenced my early works. Inspirations include: the preserved body of Saint Zita who died 800 years ago in Lucca, Italy or a file containing one doctor’s collection of items extracted from the tracheae or esophagi of his patients, in the Mütter Museum, Philadelphia.

Currently, I am seeking a sculptural definition for the idea of translation. I am interested in the evolution of the original into another communicative form: the steps or the removals from the original, and the explorations between translations; whether that is translating text or interpreting something two-dimensional into a three-dimensional object. I want to make images and objects of complicated misinterpretations, communications and relations into something more minimal, generic, colorful, organized and utterly human.

An example of such work is my Pippi project created while studying in Stockholm, Sweden. I asked non-native English speakers to tell me what they remember of Pippi Longstocking, a children’s story written by the Swedish author, Astrid Lindgren. I recorded their imperfect recollections in English. Next, I re-translated their recollections into my imperfect Swedish. The result was a sculptural interpretation of the Pippi Longstocking story, a story distorted through memory and language. While in Scandinavia, I have been collaborating with two artists, Mia Öquist from Norway (in 2007) and Fredrik Nielsen from Sweden (currently working on a project). Mia and I, made a video installation dealing with the dynamic of our cross-cultural collaboration based on our interest of the Pippi Longstocking character. My collaboration with Fredrik is an exchange where we are deconstructing and constructing each other’s work, redefining what is his, mine, or ours.

In the future, I want to continue the investigation started in Sweden by collecting, researching and using little anecdotes, hearsay stories and rumors and make them become a form of their own. With that said, I would love to have your little stories (samanthahookway@gmail.com).