Meet the Artist
Sam Murphy is a Textile Artist, Clothing Designer, and Illustrator residing in Portland, ME. Murphy acquired their Bachelors's in Fine Art with a Focus in Textiles and Fashion at Maine College of Art & Design. Murphy’s work can be easily recognized by their use of color, delicate forms, and the frequent inclusion of botanical objects. Their work also focuses on empowerment of the self, intimate apparel and adornment of the body as a religious experience. Their work has notable attention to detail, working to curate every aspect of the finished project, be it hand stitching final touches or custom-dying fabrics, they look to achieve excellence by any means necessary. Above all, their work is an exploration of ideas and philosophies they encounter in everyday life, using textiles as a conduit to better understand complicated feelings and concepts.
Artist Statement
Revolving around care for the self as a form of spirituality and reclamation of one's body as an object of beauty, my work is curated through light airy colors combined with powerful silhouettes to promote control over space. Like Venus, embodied in the divine and natural vs human, my garments encourage the viewer to take on another skin, ascending a physical form.The result reclaims flamboyant and feminine space, allowing the wearer to embrace fanciful and delicate thematics free of gender identification. I look to envelop my models in ideas of vintage lamps and bouquets enhancing their beauty rather than trying to idealize a specific body type or look. I pull from rococo-esque aesthetics, tchotchkes, natural objects, as well as more abstract concepts like how an ocean view feels or how a sound or a song translates to a look. To wear this work is to create dream-like moments, emotional expressions of your inner self.
