"Through these paintings, I explore the enduring connection between Native Hawaiians and the sacred landscapes that have shaped their identities, histories, and ways of being"
- Samara Couri
Samara Couri, Resilience, 2026, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 IN
In Samara Couri’s three-month long residency with The CAMP Gallery, the artist defines land as an active site of emotion, human presence and transformation. With delicate brushstrokes shifting environment and form, the context of her paintings blur distinction and intersect the two subjects, strengthening their relationship as one relies on the other. Drawing inspiration from her home in Hawai'i, she connects the figures to the atmosphere’s landscape reflecting the Hawaiian philosophy, “the land is alive, ancestral, and deeply connected to identity.”
In this Q&A, Couri discusses her intentions with the residency, new experimentation in her practice, and her evolution as an artist.
1. In your paintings you often blur the fore and background together while introducing airy brushstrokes. Is there a story behind the stylistic approach?
Samara Couri: The blurring of the foreground and background in my paintings comes from the idea that people and the environment are not separate from one another. Within Hawaiian philosophy, the land is alive, ancestral, and deeply connected to identity, so I wanted the figures in my work to feel as though they are emerging from the land rather than simply standing within it. By dissolving those boundaries, the paintings reflect the belief that the body, spirit, memory, and landscape continuously flow into one another. The figure, the volcano, the ocean, and the sky become part of the same living presence. Ultimately, this reflects the understanding that there is no Hawaiʻi without its indigenous people.
The brushstrokes also come from wanting the work to feel less fixed and more elemental with constant movement. Nature in Hawaiʻi is constantly moving and transforming, and I wanted the paintings to carry that same impermanence and energy. The softer transitions allow the work to feel emotional and spiritual rather than purely literal, as though the figures are suspended between the physical and ancestral world.
There is also an emotional aspect behind the approach. I am interested in creating a feeling of memory and connection rather than a sharply defined scene. The blurred spaces can represent histories that are carried through feeling, intuition, and ancestral presence rather than direct narration. In many ways, the paintings are less about depicting a single moment and more about capturing an atmosphere of belonging, where figure and land cannot be clearly separated because they have always existed as part of one another.
2. During this residency, are there any concepts or themes you would like to explore?
SC: A concept I would like to explore further is the idea of ancestral and emotional memory carried through the body and the environment. Rather than presenting nature as a backdrop, I want the paintings to suggest that landscapes themselves can hold experience, emotion, and traces of human presence. I am interested in creating works that feel both intimate and expansive, where personal identity becomes connected to something larger, elemental, and continuously changing.
Overall, the residency feels like an opportunity to push the work into a more immersive and intuitive space, while continuing to develop a visual language centered around transformation, atmosphere, and the relationship between inner and outer worlds.
3. Nature is often central to your works, What is your relationship with the environment, and how does that look?
SC: Nature is central to my work because I see the environment as something deeply connected to human emotion, memory, and identity rather than simply a setting that surrounds us. I am interested in the idea that people continuously absorb and reflect the landscapes they move through, and that the boundary between the internal and external world is far more fluid than it appears. Because of this, my paintings often blur the line between the figure and the environment, allowing bodies, textures, and natural elements to merge together as if they are part of the same living system.
This relationship appears through layered atmospheres, dissolving forms, and contrasting brushwork that make the paintings feel in motion rather than fixed. I am drawn to natural cycles of transformation; erosion, growth, decay, light, water, smoke, weather, and I try to let those rhythms shape both the process and emotional tone of the work. The environment in my paintings is rarely passive; it behaves almost like a psychological or spiritual extension of the figure itself.
The mirror paintings I also do connect closely to this idea. They introduce the viewer directly into the work, turning reflection into part of the composition. I see the mirrors as a way of collapsing the distance between the artwork and the person experiencing it. Instead of observing the painting from outside of it, the viewer becomes physically present within the environment and atmosphere of the piece. That reflection changes constantly depending on movement, light, and perspective, which mirrors the larger themes in my work about impermanence, identity, and interconnectedness.
The mirrors also explore the idea that nature and emotion can act as forms of reflection themselves. Just as a mirror reveals fragments of the self, the environment can reveal internal states that are difficult to express directly. In that sense, the work becomes less about depicting a specific place and more about creating spaces where the viewer can recognize aspects of themselves within the merging of body, landscape, memory, and reflection.
4. How does this residency align with your current artistic practice?
SC: This residency aligns closely with my current artistic practice because it has given me the time and space to fully immerse myself in developing a cohesive body of work centered on the relationship between the human figure, nature, and transformation.
Working consistently on this series has allowed me to deepen the emotional and conceptual direction of the work. Through the residency, I have become more aware of how themes such as memory, impermanence, resilience, and interconnectedness naturally recur throughout the paintings. It has also pushed me to trust a more intuitive process, allowing movement, texture, and atmosphere to guide the work rather than approaching each piece in a rigid or predetermined way.
Although the residency is online and I am still creating within my own environment, that has actually strengthened the authenticity of the work. My practice is deeply influenced by surrounding atmosphere, natural cycles, and lived experience, so remaining connected to my daily environment has allowed the paintings to develop in a way that feels grounded and emotionally honest. The residency has created a focused space for reflection and experimentation while still allowing the work to remain connected to the environments and philosophies that inspire it.
Overall, the residency has aligned with my practice by supporting the development of a body of work that continues to evolve conceptually and materially, while giving me the freedom to further explore the connection between identity, spirituality, and the natural world.
5. How has your art style evolved in recent years?
SC: In recent years, my work has become increasingly experimental and intuitive, both materially and visually. I have moved toward allowing the brushstrokes to feel less controlled and more atmospheric, abstract, or fluid depending on the emotional tone and subject matter of each piece. Rather than focusing on fixed forms, I am more interested in creating movement and spaces where figures and environments can dissolve into one another. This shift has allowed the work to feel more immersive and emotionally open.
I have also expanded the way I approach different surfaces and materials, whether working on canvas, mirrors, or installation-based pieces. Each surface changes the relationship between the artwork, the environment, and the viewer, so I have become more experimental in responding to those differences rather than approaching every work in the same way. With the mirror pieces in particular, I have started constructing them in more varied patterns and arrangements, exploring how fragmentation, reflection, and spatial composition can alter the experience of the work.
Overall, the evolution of my style has involved becoming more open to unpredictability, experimentation, and transformation within the process itself.
6. Is there anything you're working on outside of CAMP that you'd like to share with us?
SC: The series I have been developing for the residency has taken up much of my focus recently, so that body of work has been my main priority. At the same time, outside of CAMP I have continued experimenting with installation-based pieces, particularly involving mirrors and reflective surfaces. I am interested in exploring new ways of presenting the paintings through different mirror forms, arrangements, and spatial compositions, and how those elements can change the viewer’s relationship to the work itself.
This experimentation has become an important extension of my practice, allowing me to think beyond the traditional canvas and explore ideas of reflection, fragmentation, presence, and environment in more immersive ways.
Samara Couri, Descendent on Nature, 2026, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30 IN
"These works are not only representations of people within a landscape, but declarations that the people are the landscape. Hawaiʻi cannot be separated from its people, just as its people cannot be separated from the land that continues to sustain, remember, and live through them."
- Samara Couri