About

Artist Statement
My interdisciplinary art practice is grounded in research and inquiry into the human experience of the natural world, our impact on ecological systems, and the interplay between natural and constructed environments. Working across media—including drawing, painting, sculpture, analog photography, digital video, projection, and interactive installation—I often integrate natural processes and systems. My work explores the dissonance between geological time and human temporal perception, while critically examining biodiversity loss, climate change, and anthropogenic transformation of land.

My current research includes the study of natural history museum artifacts and displays, historical cartography, and environmental records such as waterway pollution data. I also investigate the classification of plant, animal, and insect species—particularly those labeled as threatened, native, or invasive—questioning the cultural and scientific frameworks that inform such labels.

I employ cyanotype and anthotype photograms, as well as light-based sculptural installations, to examine plant agency and adaptation within human-altered landscapes. The images, produced using early photographic techniques and sustainable plant-based emulsions (e.g., spinach, turmeric, berries), are exposed by sunlight, emphasizing ecological interdependence and the materiality of time.

Uncontainable Garden is an evolving installation composed of solar-illuminated plastic enclosures containing—or being overtaken by—plant life. The project features species ranging from domesticated houseplants to invasive flora, highlighting the contradictions embedded in our attempts to classify, control, and domesticate the natural world. The work invites viewers to reconsider the boundaries we impose on nonhuman life and to recognize the resilience of plants that persist beyond containment.



Bio
Samantha Sethi is an artist of mixed Indian and American heritage based in Baltimore, MD. She earned her MFA from American University and her BFA from the School of Visual Arts in NYC. Her work has been exhibited widely, including at the Torrance Art Museum in Los Angeles, CA; the Creative Alliance in Baltimore; the Washington Project for the Arts in Washington, D.C.; Field Projects, NYC; Krupic Kersting Gallery in Cologne, and Hilbert Raum project space in Berlin. She has created public art projects through commissions for the Baltimore Office and Promotion & the Arts and the Frederick Arts Council. She is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.