Sam Snell – UNM alumni and artist – held the opening night reception of his first solo exhibition titled “Magical Thinking” on June 24. Snell’s idea of “Magical Thinking” is to merge Queer and spiritual identities to help people apply a spiritual lens to their life experiences.
The exhibition is also the first solo show hosted by Tori Wilson, owner of Garagedoor Gallery and fellow artist. She immediately connected with Snell’s work and said she was excited to have the opportunity to share it with other members of the community.
“When he contacted me to have this solo show here, it was an immediate yes,” Wilson said, “because that means that I get to be surrounded by his art for a whole month.”
“Magical thinking, first and foremost, is this idea that certain beliefs, rituals and words can influence the external world. It’s the inner world relating to the external world and showing up in the external world, whether through fear or longing,” Snell said.
Snell’s artwork uses image-editing technology to create references for some pieces, as well as relying on plein-air studies, which is defined by painting outside and referencing the light and landscape of the environment. This technique takes many hours and comes with unique challenges, Snell said.
“You are facing weather and time changing differences in light. That's what draws me to it – that challenge. Trying to sit in this uncomfortable situation but capture something ephemeral. It's definitely helped me to grow a lot as an artist,” Snell said.
Much of Snell’s work is about his religious upbringing as well as his identity as a gay man – two things that are often treated as mutually exclusive, Snell said. His work seeks to argue that both of these identities can exist within a person and should be embraced and cultivated.
“My work is reclaiming spirituality and identifying what is sacred – finding what is meaningful in the darkness, because I'm still living with a lot of shadow work and a lot of inner turmoil that was from not being accepted in that setting, but also not accepting myself,” Snell said.
Snell’s gallery will be available for scheduled viewing until July 29, Wilson said.
“I'm very excited to be able to give a bigger platform to his work, even though he already has so many supporters. This is the first solo exhibition that I’ve hosted here and I'm super blown away,” Wilson said.
Detroit Kallunki is a senior reporter with the Daily Lobo. They can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
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Detroit Kallunki is a senior reporter with the Daily Lobo.
