
Photograph by Thomas McCammon
I acknowledge that the lands I live and work on are the unceded lands of the Kaurna people.
Sam Gold is a queer non-binary artist based in South Australia, living and working on Kaurna Yarta. Since beginning their journey with clay in 2013 Gold draws on over a decade of training in Transpersonal Art Therapy, Furniture Design, and Contemporary Art.
Gold's practice navigates the intersections of inner and outer landscapes, where minerals and memories intertwine. Through a multidisciplinary approach, they explore the poetics of the body, its animacy, myth and the intricate web of interconnectedness. By celebrating queer and non-binary bodies and experiences, Gold's work disrupts and reimagines oppressive narratives.
Characterized by intimacy and movement, Gold's practice deepens the relationship between maker and material. Drawing from experiences of desire and sensual politics, they examine the power dynamics of non-binary queer identity. This inquiry is guided by a fascination with the phenomenology of pleasure, intimacy, and the sensual, probing the boundaries between self and environment.
Utilizing handbuilding, wheel throwing, and glazing, Gold's ceramic practice embodies the mimeticness of clay as a living material in transition. Gold’s aesthetic reflects the importance of boundaries and the catalytic role they play in exploring the edges of possibility.
Gold's large-scale compositions invite viewers to engage intimately, encouraging them to immerse themselves in the interconnectedness of bodily linguistics. By drawing upon the wisdom of the body and the expanse of non-binary queer identities, Gold creates a pulse and immediacy that fosters connection and intimacy.
Informed by the concept of the open field, Gold's practice blurs the boundaries between self and other, as well as the larger world of minerals and animacy. Gesture and body language negotiate and subvert these boundaries, creating new potentials for connection. As Gold reflects, "The body is a map of memories, a landscape of desires and sensations that shape our understanding of self and others. As a non-binary artist, I am drawn to the ways our bodies and identities intertwine, always in a state of transition."
Gold is a highly awarded artist, with accolades including several Arts South Australia and Creative Australia grants (2019-2024), the Helpmann Academy Grant and Undergraduate Award for Excellence (2019), the Helpmann Creative Investment Fellowship (2021), and the University of South Australia’s Australian Ceramics Council Award (2018) and Merit Award for Academic Excellence (2019). They have exhibited extensively throughout South Australia and beyond, notably in Primavera: Young Australian Artists 2021 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. Currently, Gold is a tenant at Mixed Goods Studios and a JamFactory Alumni, represented by Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide.