Sam Schembri

SNAP Emerging Artist in Residence 2023-24

I am a queer artist from Ardrossan, AB, and alum of Emily Carr University of Art & Design. After completing my degree I moved to Toronto and began working as an Art Installer then returned to Edmonton where I currently work as a Preparator for the Art Gallery of Alberta.

My involvement in the queer community inspires my research in gender studies, mythology, and euphemism. I express modern sexuality, gender, and identity through reworking myths to expose homosexuality embodied in classical histories. All media explorations have lead me to a combination of sculpture, painting, and printmaking techniques. I’ve always been interested in spaces of worship and incorporating personal elements of fetishism in object-hood alongside iconic centrepieces to utilize the ritualistic behaviours of museums, domestic spaces, personal collections, queer expression, and narcissism.