Sammy
Polinsky
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Sammy Polinsky
She/Her
Contact: samanthapolinsky@gmail.comAs a multidisciplinary artist specializing in mixed media sculpture, I have always been fascinated by objecthood and the way humans naturally build emotional bonds between themselves and their things. Amplified by capitalism, the objects we own often come to symbolize our status, successes, and ourselves. In my art I use sculpture as a means of emulating the physical and metaphorical weight that comes with emotional enmeshment with our objects, specifically through the lens of humor and my Jewish-American identity. I appreciate that not all feelings can be projected onto objects, and I enjoy the challenge of making contradicting or impossible emotions present as physical entities.
I often utilize camp, kitsch, and queer pop-culture aesthetics as influences for work. Not only is this central to my identity, but I am also interested in the way these themes utilize satire to identify flaws or absurdities in the systems we live in. Given the dark and satirical nature of Jewish humor, I try to use a mixture of camp and stereotypes to shed light on the half-truths that are both partially right and blatantly antisemitic; half-truths that might be humorous and collegial when shared between Jews, but dangerous and hateful when promoted by gentiles. My work plays with the notion of creating physical manifestations of what feels like untouchable concepts. I often make these works that challenge the notion of what can and cannot be discussed as a means of accessibility. By combining these themes with specific aspects of high and low brow art, I can open a multidimensional and more intersectional discussion on the absurdity of exclusivity in the art world.
Sammy Polinsky is a multi-disciplinary artist based on Boston, MA. She received her Master in Fine Arts at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and her Bachelor of Arts at Dickinson College. She spent the last year as a teaching fellow at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts for the sculpture department, and is currently working as a Display Artist for Anthropologie. She was featured in the Boston Globe’s “Six Art School Starts to Watch” and has shown in multiple exhibitions throughout New England.