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ARTS
Weaving Feminine Technologies with Samantha Vo
Interview by Andrea Quinto and Anitah ImaniIntroduction written by Sonya Ontiveros
Photos by Marina Luz Reyes
Styling by Dennay King
Hair by Priscilla Urrutia
Anitah: First of all, thank you for allowing me into your studio space. It's so beautiful here, and I already found a photo of it that I wanted to talk to you about, so glad I get to see it in real life. You have been a textile and printmaking artist here for a couple years, and this residency came pretty recently– tell me a little bit about what that has been like for you, the community that it’s brought you, and what you're working on?
Samantha: Thank you. It's been a really wonderful experience. And I think with any residency I do, or any opportunity I I kind of end up pivoting from things that I already know and know how to do, and kind of use it as a way to challenge myself to try new things, which has been my introduction to working with metal and steel, learning welding and becoming more of a sculptor. CALA has been really amazing in offering me the opportunity and resources to be able to do that and explore, and I think also giving me grace to adapt and shape shift. The more things that I learn or research, I end up pivoting so everything's an in the moment process for me, and I think they've been really supportive of that. And in those ways, I think that would help me grow more than kind of going in with an idea and sticking to that,, and not trying to challenge myself outside of those. Outside of the things that I already know how to do. So, yeah, they've been so gracious and supportive.
A: I feel it's almost like you're supposed to pivot in a space like this. You're supposed to explore, you're supposed to try a new medium. So would you say that prior to this, you weren't really doing a lot of welding work that you're now primarily doing. How's that been for you? Just learning a new material to work with?
S: It's been fun, it's been challenging. With my practice in general, learning new things allows me to see how much further they can be pushed, and kind of understanding different types of mediums allows me to bridge things even further than they already were. And so, yeah, I mean, it's been great. I've had a lot of great teachers and people that have been instructing me on how to do these things. So I'm also really grateful for that, it feels like the right moment to learn these things. Because I've been at Phoenix College too, I took a summer class there with Zach Valent. He's a sculptor, public artist, an educator, and he has been super impactful to me. He's allowed me to kind of explore the medium and add depth to my work. I think he's also been very gracious and allowed me to kind of use the space as I wish. I'm in his sculpting class right now, and I kind of use that as an open studio.
A: You have ample workspaces across the valley, across the Phoenix area. That's amazing.
S: It's such a privilege, and I definitely don't take it for granted. And I'm at one of these places every single day, I'm definitely taking advantage of it. And I know that this isn't gonna always be what's accessible to me, so I'm really trying to indulge in it.
A: That's beautiful. So with the different materials that you work across, what intrigues me a lot about your work is the fluidity at which you move through these different mediums. So what even makes you gravitate towards using the textiles that you're using, and what presently are you being drawn to?
S: I think with textiles, I'm really drawn to the fact that we interact with them every day, and that it is such an accessible thing. And I think within all mediums, in textile it's like anyone can learn these things. I don't think there's this natural born talent you have to have to work with this material. And I like the idea that anyone can do this and that we already have so much history with it every day. So that has always kind of been my interest in textiles. Prior to working with textiles, I was much more digital, heavy printmaking, working on papers, and I felt I needed something more tangible. Working on walls wasn't cutting it for me, so it felt natural to pivot. Kind of start printing on textiles, and then from there, exploring the material more and seeing what it can do. And kind of working backwards, because I was working with fabric, printing on fabric, and now weaving it. It's definitely a gateway thing, with textiles. You start with one thing, and then you're crocheting and weaving and doing five different things within that.
A: It's all really beautiful to see how intricate each textile that you work with is. The basket weaving that you're currently doing, that I'm looking at right now, is really beautiful and intricate. And there was another project that you have, it's an ongoing series, the nets that you work with as well. Are you planning to continue to explore that body of work? Is it something that you're actively working through?
S: I feel like it has kind of evolved. I think the idea behind the nets was more so the theme of containment and carriers, and so I think that has gravitated towards the baskets, towards like textiles that hold things. I recently read the theory of the carrier bag theory of fiction.
It's basically the theory that baskets were the earliest cultural device and have been more impactful to society than kind of the more heroic country stories that we know. Not necessarily more impactful, but they should be as impactful, and we should know these stories as well and how baskets and the idea of containment functions also within a more inner and emotional world. So I think that is kind of my overall arc for the nets, and kind of exploring further how else that looks like different materials.
A: I am really glad that you're able to elaborate a little bit on containment. I was curious how that still resonates with you, even reading this on the wall right here, “This tells the story of human origin by redefining technology as a cultural carrier bag rather than a weapon of domination.” And that's a bar. And prior to coming here today, I had seen a photograph of this same wall. Can you talk me through some of these bigger ideas that you're working through here, like the feminine technology toward everything?
S: I think just how that says, “human technology “ made me think, what are feminine technologies? And gathering, and then going from gathering to thinking about vessels. And in another essay that I read they stated feminine technologies as, like the web weft and stitching of material and items. And I thought that it was really brilliant to think that women weave the world essentially. And so this work is really about the women in my life, but also all around us. And I think when I think about feminist art, I don't always see myself in these artworks or in these stories, and so I'm really trying to think about, well, what does that look like for me, for my history and for the stories of the women in my life. Things are a little bit more heavy, they are more messy, more turbulent, and so this is all kind of a way to honor them and put their stories on a pedestal, which is kind of why I'm working with the heels.
A: I'm really drawn to the heels. Immediately when I saw them, with the gritty concrete, it was really beautiful. I think that it alludes to a heavier theme here as well.
S: I think they say a lot without doing too much. And I think they allow for inner emotion to come through, where I don't have to be so literal. But at the same time, I think with heels, historically they were a symbol of power, but also a symbol of ceremonial practices and costume. I kind of want to teeter the line between the two - returning power to those who practice care, and also kind of grounding them and making them look almost archeological, pulled out of Earth, and thinking of them as anchors. I'm thinking of heels also as a feminine technology, as power. I think we wear heels sometimes, to give power, to give style, to elevate ourselves.
A: Absolutely, it's a working women's shoe. A working women's shoes in so many different contexts. This one right here makes me think of stripper stilettos. You have to really wear a pair of heels like that, you really have to command them when wearing them.
S: You have to wear them. You can't let them wear you, type of thing. And I think with using the more masculine type materials, or things that we may be perceived as masculine with the rebar and the steel, there's something there.
It's also this weird sexual tension between the two ideas. As women, or in a feminine perspective, we see that this is sexy, or powerful, and for maybe the male perspective, it feels violent, kind of gross, kind of gritty.
What is a feminine heel supposed to look like, exactly? And in a way, I'm really trying to reclaim these materials and kind of submit these emotions and stories within the basketry, within the heels, kind of building them up. So this was another prototype that I did. This is the shape of a foot, but I'm really trying to get more, making them more exaggerated. This is more an ode to the home.
This will also kind of be in the same line as the other one, but this will have basketry weaving that goes up as well. I think feminist art always exists in this fantasy context, or even matriarchy. The idea of matriarchy is this fantasy, exotic type of story. I think I am using real, world building materials to cement these concepts and ideas. So that's really why I'm gravitating towards cement and steel and then trying to soften them with textile and craft work. So the show is called “The Softest Hard”.
A: It's so beautiful the actual juxtaposition of materials that you're using. And I love how in different ways, you're utilizing these feminine technologies that you've used previously in different mediums or different projects of your work, and bringing them into heels
S: I hope one day I can do some video installation work with them and make them exaggerated. I've been thinking about nails a lot because my grandma, from my Vietnamese side, was a nail tech for most of her time in the States, and I have this memory burned in my mind of her toenails, she had acrylic toenails.
I'm seeing all the ways that we decorate ourselves as feminine technologies as well. And like, why do we do that?
A: Your most recent piece at Palabra, it's interesting to see all the different ways that you're exploring dressing the feminine body. But also adding some functionality to it, in a way. While we're on that tangent, can you elaborate more on your MVP piece that was debuted at the exhibition at Palabra?
S: It's one of my favorite pieces. I think the apron that is used in the piece is actually my grandma's apron that she wore growing up, and she gifted them to me recently. I didn't really know what I wanted, why I wanted them. I still need to send her a photo. The piece is really about honoring the labor and care that women do in the home and in our world. I think this is kind of the untold heroic story. And so making them as jerseys, because to me, the women in my life, are the MVPs, so I really wanted to honor that. It's kind of a mundane thing that we take for granted or don't appreciate as much as we maybe should. Or we don't appreciate the ways that that kind of care and labor has shaped us all as people and how we take care of ourselves and our own homes. Thinking about home a lot too.
A: I love how you decorated it and made it more regal, like the draping and everything. The hanger that you gave it was really grand as well. It's so beautiful. I like the way that you're sort of honoring these everyday feminine clothing items, they function as technologies, and they benefit all of us as well.
S: Labor, yeah. I'm in this very much care, labor, home, matriarchal kind of like, headspace.
A: Where are you from?
S: I'm from a city called Chula Vista, and it's a border town. It has a high population of immigrants. It's where my family crossed from Tijuana to San Diego, where we lived most of our lives.
A: I'm glad that you've been able to find that. From outside looking in, it seems as if you have a beautiful community of women around you. I wanted to talk a little bit about your relationship to Yari, and you guys being studio partners, and friends, of course. Making art in the same space, I'm sure, has been such a vulnerable process. And you guys use so many of not the same materials necessarily, but similar, they're in conversation with each other.
S: It’s been a relationship I think that has marked such a pivotal time in my life. I think beyond friendship, but I feel such a strong sisterhood, connection with her. I think that we're both so different and also the same in so many ways, and I think we grew up in the same kind of love and care and this kind of community, and so we're able to share that and know each other in that way. And that's such an intimate thing, to really know and interact with someone. So it's been maybe the easiest thing I've ever done, share a studio with her and build our relationship. I think we both motivate each other so much and also are able to give each other the space to be vulnerable and to express our fears, express the parts of making that no one really sees. I think everyone sees the finished product or the successes of being an artist, but not the kind of turbulence that goes into doing these things. And to think that I was going through that alone prior to this is so crazy to me. I don't even know how I’d manage. And I mean, I didn't work for a long time, very little. And since our relationship, it's been such an energy booster to feel more confident to do so. I think that it's important to have community and friendships that you can share that with, especially if you're a creator or a maker of anything. We don't talk enough about the emotional aspect of art making, and it's hard. It's such a privilege to be an artist, but it does take a lot from you know, it comes from your heart, and we’re so sensitive about our things.
I think our friendship in the studio has been such a safe place to land for all of those things, beyond what comes out or what gets produced, it's like our inner worlds feel a little more healed. I would say that's beautiful.
A: To go on that tangent as well, both in this space particularly, and then your studio space with Yari I guess what has this period of community in this season meant for you and your art practice? What's a takeaway that you can take from all of this?
S: I think that it's important to not create alone. Like I said, historically, I've been more isolated, or more in an isolated environment. And I think since inviting people into my practice, I've been able to learn so much more, not only about myself, but about others and how to do things. And I think collaboration is actually a really big and important part in art making, and inviting and creating an open space is always my goal. Because that's what I needed, you know?
A: Absolutely, it makes for a more beneficial environment for everybody. I feel collaboration is necessary for any art practice. To sort of round the corner of this, I saw that it was one of your colleagues here who mentioned that you guys have community workshops that you're in the process of planning for the East Valley, but also Phoenix. Is there anything that you can share a little bit about what's in the works?
S: I'm not sure when this will be released, but I'll have a workshop on January 17. I'm in the process right now of making a community loom. It'll be a four person loom. It's in a circular shape, and it's made out of steel.
I really want people to be able to create together and be in slowness together, and it'll be an ongoing project. So if the workshop isn't something that people are able to make, it's a piece that's transportable, and I plan to take it to different sites in order for people to work on. So it'll be an ongoing project as well.
A: That's amazing, how fun, bringing art to people. I love that it touches multiple parts of the valley.
S: We really need that now. When you think about how polarizing the world is right now, because we do live in a less liberal, more conservative state at large. But I always feel like we have more in common than we do in being different from each other. But there's not a lot of spaces where we're able to see that or connect with different people. And I don't know if this work is gonna solve that, but…
A: It's turning your brain off for a little bit and being really present with this art in front of you. It provides a space of escape for you for however long that the workshop will be. But for others, I'm sure it'll be a little bit more and open them up to another world.
S: And to provide practice and tools to use to work in slowness, or have a meditative practice, because that's all this is for me. So much of the mediums I worked through help me process the external world.