What We Did When The Moon Fell

Artist Statement: For me, the act of creation is one of survival and joy. My work is rooted in researching and understanding the behaviors and anatomy of the creatures we share our world with. Each new piece presents a challenge to learn something new and render a visual translation of human emotion with animal instinct. Life is weird. Brains are confusing. Art helps.

Year: 2023

Dimensions: 185mm (w) x 280mm (d) x 330mm (h)

Medium: Polymer clay, acrylic paint

It began in State College, Pennsylvania, during the spring of 1991. A child was born, named after a dog and set loose in the garden.

Upon graduating from the University of New Orleans in 2013, Samantha Jane Mullen took to wood burning and the creative beast inside her freaked out.

After 11 years living and creating in New Orleans, Samantha Jane moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico with her trombone wielding husband and two cats. There, she adopted a disturbed dog and shifted from the medium of pyrography to sculpting full time. 

Samantha is a self-taught artist whose work explores elements of the natural world recombined in unlikely situations. Currently on a quest to retain hope for a brighter global future, she is exploring the realm of polymer clay to realize scenes of fantasy and nature focusing on stewardship of the land and human curiosity. With her recent move to Madison, Wisconsin, Samantha looks forward to expanding her skillset within the narrative world of sculpting, continuing her adventure with color and finding ways to incorporate form with function.