Sam Songailo has been practicing as an artist since 2001, with a background in design he has developed a highly individualised visual language than has resulted in an accomplished body of paintings. Songailo’s paintings are an intricate layering of visual systems, systems that draw you in with a particular intensity of colour, an obsession with surface, texture and colour. Within Songailo’s paintings there seems to be a search for peace, a balance that enables the eye to search and soak up all the colour and visual mapping of line and direction. For the viewer it is possible to experience the enjoyment of process to be pulled into the artist’s world. Songailo’s work should be seen in the flesh, a presence of skill is present with every brushstroke. It is rare to discover a contemporary artist that listens to an internal voice of integrity, and surrenders to the painting process as a prescription for artifact.

Art, in particular painting has always been a reliable way for me to meditate on my life, and how I choose to communicate as an artist. Within my painting process I aim to create my own visual language and to explore this language as much as I can. I refrain from using recognisable forms or consciously adding meaning or a message to my artwork, In order to enable my artwork an opportunity to break free from the references of objects or subjects which can tie painting to specific time, place, social, cultural, or political view. In removing these elements I aim to create artwork which can stand alone and speak as an individual mode of communication.

I let the process dictate the product. Each painting in some way begins as a different challenge to be resolved. In a practical sense the confrontation of a blank canvas or in a more ethereal sense the bravery of reconciling conflicting ideas and motives. I like to think that although the forms and colours evade a specific message, they are imbued with empathy and enthusiasm which I believe is communicated to the audience.

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