Samantha Sawyer (b. 2003) is an interdisciplinary artist from Abaco, Bahamas who has been drawn to creating from a young age. Primarily a painter but a lover of many mediums, her practice also encompasses printmaking, mixed media, graphic design, & digital illustration. She earned a BFA in Painting with a minor in Business from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2025.
Samantha currently lives and works in Abaco, Bahamas, constantly inspired by her everyday life. Drawing on her love of Bahamian iconography, familial heritage, and sense of place, Samatha merges these influences with her interest in color, texture, and pattern. In 2019, Hurricane Dorian destroyed the island of Abaco, not only changing Samantha’s life but also her practice, now viewing the island’s landscape through the lens that it can be taken away again. She has been a freelance artist since 2020, bringing client’s visions to life with commissioned projects. She has worked with luxury resorts such as Baker’s Bay and The Abaco Club, and local Bahamian businesses such as HopeTown Canvas, Insurance Management (Bahamas) Ltd. (Abaco & Exuma branches), & Frederick’s Agency. Her work is featured in private collections throughout The Bahamas and The United States.
Creating is a necessity for me, painting, beading, printing, & collaging what I cannot put into words. I am constantly collecting moments, past and present, and encapsulating them in my work. I use my childhood memories, Bahamian iconography, and practices from my Abaco upbringing as my work’s foundation. These elements connect to the shared experiences of many Bahamians growing up.
I work across a variety of surfaces and mediums, allowing playfulness to emerge through texture, mark-making, found objects, bead embroidery, pattern, and vibrant color, direct expressions of my personal experiences and connections to these places and things. The center of my memories is the natural landscape, particularly the sea, weaving throughout my experiences as an integral constant. This formation of memories made in the natural environment is a generational experience, passed down through many years.
Bold color, texture, and pattern reflect the vibrancy of Abaco’s abundant landscape. Hurricane Dorian in 2019 altered not only my life, but the community of Abaco, shifting my perspective on the place I call home. Familiar places and objects suddenly gained greater significance, and I have carried them closer ever since, recognizing the temporariness. My work is both a celebration and preservation of these connections, to place, memory, and the landscape that shapes them.
