Samuel Alexander Forest Indonesian, b. 1998

Artist Bio 

Samuel Alexander Forest (b. 1998, Surabaya, Indonesia) maintains a primarily drawing-based practice. Through book, video, and sculpture forms, his works take special attention to overlooked everyday objects and slip across moments of poetry and humor. He received his BFA from the Cooper Union in 2021 and is a current MFA candidate at NYU Steinhardt.

Artist Statement

My works are quiet and contemplative reflections on mundane objects. Their existence tries to carry care to all things, but especially the small things, because that’s where all things begin. I use pencils and paper to make my works. These are often overlooked materials because we’ve used them all our lives. Yet it is this which draws me to them: everyday minimal means, using them to show just what they can do and be. I plan, cut, draw on, and fold my paper to hold onto itself and make objects, because a piece of paper becomes three-dimensional when it hugs itself. My energy and attention pulled into the tip of my pencil and laid on, to render them. They are imbued with a subtle dry humor as they live in-between the second and third dimension, drawing and sculpture. Wholly earnest yet absurdist, they are an autobiographical vessel of absences and memories.