An exhibition of recent paintings and prints at one of the oldest houses in Hackney.
Every Contact Leaves a Trace is the founding principle of forensic science that whenever two things come into contact, an exchange takes place. Matter tells tales, calling into question the solidity of borders between things and the separation between humans and their environment.
Hackney-based painter and printmaker Sam Hodge exhibits her recent work in one of the neighbourhood's oldest houses, 195 Mare Street. With a history spanning more than three centuries, a multitude of inhabitants have left their mark on the fabric of the building; made intentionally or incidentally, some obvious and exposed, many concealed.
Sam Hodge will be placing prints and paintings that trace her encounters with things in her local environment or on walks around the uncertain edges of England, together with new work made in response to what she finds in the house.
She is interested to see what materials can do to make their mark; watching complex patterns that resemble biological or geological systems emerge in paint as it reacts to physical forces like pressure, gravity or evaporation. She selects and sometimes combines these into biomorphic collages. The connection between human and material realms runs like an undercurrent through her practice, resulting in a compendium of tales told by matter.
Sam Hodge: Every Contact Leaves A Trace: 1 - 11 June 2023
Further Information: 195 Mare Street