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Megan Samms, Artist – SW Ktaqmkuk

(photo: Ash Hall)

Megan Samms is a L’nu, Nlaka’pamux, and mixed settler interdisciplinary artist and farmer cultivating an ancestral and place-focused practice. By thinking intergenerationally, Megan hopes to create tactile works that simultaneously serve then, now, and yet-to-be relations. Megan explores decolonial values, perspective, care, and love by unearthing story-in-place, by questioning sufficiency while respectfully troubling traditionalism. They work with varied media including fibre and handweaving, natural dyes, paint, words, growing food, and tending to bees. They will be exhibiting with their partner at CB Nuit on September 16, and exhibiting and teaching a workshop during Spirit Song Festival in St John’s in November. Currently, Megan is one of the participating artists in the 2023 Bonavista Biennale and is hosting a drop-in Indigo Social this Saturday from 1 to 5pm.

  1. Sleep and sleep science

Illustration by Lina Müller (The New Yorker)

I’ve been interested in what is enough for as long as I can remember. Directly related to my thoughts and actions around full-scope sustainability is rest. Since Winter 2023 I’ve been particularly interested in the specifics in sleep science, sleep hygiene, and sleep routines. Related, I’m interested in the crossover of waking and sleeping life, as explored, for example, in this article: https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/what-are-dreams-for

  1. Mapping

Screen shot of current mapping project, Avenza maps

My home community is in SW Ktaqmkuk (colonially known as Newfoundland). In our not-so-recent history there was a denial of the presence of people from the crown and province; much of the mapping undertaken here was to develop the railroad (no longer operating) and to extract lumber. I’ve been very interested and engaged in what mapping looks like if it’s generated by the people – not for the goal of colonialism, extraction, or exploration, but for and by simply existing in place for a long time.

  1. Art for fun

Current project for CB Nuit in Corner Brook, Ktaqmkuk

All seriousness aside, I’ve been making work with my partner lately just for fun! Things can get heavy; being a small business owner and regenerative farmer and beekeeper is BUSY. Art for fun fuels me/us/we.

  1. Winter squash

Black futsu squash in our garden

I can’t get enough of them.

  1. Land intimacy and texture

Between weaving and naturally dyeing for over a decade, tending to gardens for as long as I can remember, keeping bees, living and working on a fire lookout and observing weather and fire behaviour, and gazing for hours at topo-maps, I’ve long been obsessed with the physical, visual, and the aural textures of land and things and places and of living. Lately, I’ve been capturing lots of images of land-texture. I don’t know what I’ll do with them yet, but I can’t stop.

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