Andra Samelson is a multi-media artist whose work spans painting, drawing, sculpture, and installation, exploring the interplay between microcosm and macrocosm, the terrestrial and the celestial. Her signature use of radiant blue evokes sky, water, and infinite space, creating a luminous link between the earthly and the cosmic. Through biomorphic, asymmetrical forms drawn directly into layered acrylics, Samelson’s compositions feel both spontaneous and meditative.

Originally from Denver, Colorado, Samelson lives and works in New York City and Delhi, NY. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Sarah Lawrence College and has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Yaddo, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her work has been widely exhibited in the United States, Europe, and Asia, and she has completed a permanent public commission for NJ Transit. Samelson has lectured at NYU, Pratt Art Institute, and PBS, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, Artforum, and New American Painting. Her art is included in numerous public and private collections, including the Rubin Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, and the 9/11 Memorial Museum.

STATEMENT:

“In my recent paintings I am engaged in bringing the instinctive, immediate, and improvisational qualities of drawing to the process of painting.  With various tools I draw into my paint, spontaneously creating a layered, linear matrix. The biomorphic forms that emerge show the traces of their evolution.”