The “Backyard” paintings speak about the interconnectedness and fragility of life. Throughout history flowers have been used to represent fertility and birth while moths have been associated with death. In Latin American folklore the noctuid moth or "mariposa de la muerte” is considered a harbinger of death. So I combine flowers with moths to represent the cycle of life where birth, aging and death are all intertwined and nothing remains constant. My San Francisco backyard is the inspiration and guide for the paintings. I am fascinated by urban green spaces; how they fit into and change the cities around them; how they sustain the native birds and bugs. By magnifying that which is small and temporary I hope to focus attention on the beauty and mystery found in the everyday nature that surrounds us. The loose and spontaneous painting process I use has roots in Abstract Expressionism. When I start a painting, I put down brushstrokes that become a flower or a moth and let the painting evolve as it will. Watercolor is my favorite medium for this improvisational style because it is lush and fluid and changes as the water evaporates from the paint.

My work is a reflection of the time in which I am living. History, geography and folklore gathered in my travels are motivating factors. The human condition is described throughout my work. I see artistic value in the abandoned and beauty in the broken whether people or objects. I consciously use cast away items to invent the time and tone in each piece. A variety of artistic means are the vehicle that allows the work to reflect my vision. I think of my work in literary terms as visual poetry. Each piece is self-contained. My intentions are both emotive and personal.

I'm interested in combining different materials and elements to create or change an image, to elevate it or diminish its glow and power. In this work, I am exploring the myth of celebrity and beauty, of what is classic or sacred, I use photographs by Annie Leibovitz, classic paintings by Da Vinci or Lautrec, cut out pages of W or Vanity Fair magazines, old record covers, or poetry books as my essential elements of expression. I see their beauty and power, and I want to reinterpret, to enhance, or metamorphosize these powerful images.

Over the past few years, I have been shifting between indoor and outside studios to build my sculptures. This transfer encouraged me to select a material that would withstand and interact with the environment. Combinations of copper, found metal, and wood have been the perfect solution. These constructions mimic shapes and patterns repeated in nature, becoming plant-animal hybrids.

They rely on natural elements such as wind, water, fire, urine and dirt for their patina. The latest assemblage of work focuses on longevity. Technically, they are never

For me to make art, I must be profoundly moved by an experience or thought. I share life stories through my work. My studio is my sanctuary to make art, free of outside influences and judgment of others. Being in a place that feels safe is important to me. My inner world is feminine; I select specific colors to evoke a feeling or luscious fabrics to create a veil, like a soft shield of protection. From that point, there is a pouring out of emotions where I expose my personal life’s journey. This vital process is the vehicle that helps to promote healing within and it is why I continue to make art.

My work consists almost entirely of an on-going, "serial portrait" of my wife Colette Crutcher.  I began this project over 25 years ago when Colette was pregnant with our first child, and I wanted to record the physical and emotional changes she was undergoing.  Gradually I realized that this single focus on another person as subject had potential beyond the immediate circumstances of Colette's pregnancy.  I became intrigued with, or perhaps obsessed by, the possibility of depicting Colette as a whole person, through a multiplicity of images made over time; time being the dimension that is absent from a single portrait image.  Rather than dealing primarily with the biographical facts of her life, I want instead to convey her subjective experience, through the medium of her body, the outward expression of her inner self.  However, a portrait is, by definition, one person interpreting another person, scrutinizing from the outside an ever receding mystery, one which even in an entirely open hearted person like Colette, plays  a teasing game of hide and seek.   So the results of my efforts are always uncertain and provisional, full of gaps which I fill in with my own materials, making my portrait a kind of self-portrait.  In the end, what I have created is a kind of hybrid entity combining elements of both me and Colette.  My hope is that the viewer, who doesn't know either of us, comes away from my work with a sense of a powerful human presence, which is as good a way as any of describing my subjective experience of Colette in my life.

I moved from Ann Arbor to San Francisco in 1976 to continue work on my MFA. I have been working in my studio at Hunters Point Shipyard since 1999. My primary media are sculpture and painting.

In 2009 and 2011, in response to an invitation to The Florence Biennale I began a body of American Artwork. I call this series AMERICAN TOTEM. I wanted to create work that gave some refection of the American experience. I began by collecting cast off American artifacts with the goal of repurposing them into large scale Totem Poles. I create these totems by welding steel armatures and stacking the discarded artifacts into AMERICAN TOTEMS. This series has been unfolding for the last two years.          

I see each TOTEM as an archeological slice of American life; a snapshot of what has been occurring in our everyday lives. That which was once abandoned and deemed irrelevant and peripheral has a new found focus and second life. I am looking at color, form and conceptually interesting combinations of objects, while recreating a new story about these bits of detritus. I use my own lens to recreate each of these works as a unique historical log of our culture, society and country.

Exhibitions include MEXICO BIENNAL 2008, Hayes Valley Market Gallery, Glen Arbor Arts Commission Gallery, Haley Martin Gallery, Somarts Gallery, Ampersand International Arts Gallery, Southern Exposure Gallery, Dakota Arts Gallery, Velcrow Gallery and Artist in Residence Glen Arbor, MI. San Francisco Travel, ARC Gallery, San Francisco. Publications include ARTWEEK, BANG, SAN FRANCISCO MAGAZINE, the books ART of NORTHERN CALIFORNIA and AMERICAN ART COLLECTOR. My work is held in collections in the United States, Europe, Mexico, and China. Installations include a major sculptural work in the THEMIS CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS and two major sculpture commissions for the Moore Foundation in Palo Alto. My original art book Samantha Ray is in the permanent library of The Brooklyn Museum of Art.