Aggregations (2012)
Drawn & Mirrored (2013)
Too Much Is Never Enough (2015)

This body of work has its roots in scientific illustration and collection. Beginning with a non-objective, organic drawing, each form evolves from the mirroring of its half. This aggregation, or accumulation of related forms, resides between the psychological inkblot, mirrored behaviors, and the bilateral symmetry inherent in natural forms—ranging from the simplest single-celled protozoa, to the complexity of the human body, its parts and its whole.

With Whom Am I Speaking? (2015)

The use of glass to protect and display collections has a long history, and was particularly ubiquitous in the Victorian age. The parlor was the primary gathering place in the Victorian home and a showcase for possessions and collections. Family and guests convened in the parlor to play games, converse, read, and play music. Specimens of butterflies, iridescent beetles, shells and taxidermy birds were decoratively displayed under bell jars, in shadow boxes, in freestanding fireplace screens, and under glass tabletops, and were often a catalyst for educational conversation. Today our conversations are often between our computers and ourselves — the digital display a stand-in for actual specimens, and sometimes for humans themselves.

Eye Aggregation (2012)

Eye Aggregation was created after an intensive artist residency at the Banff Centre and influenced by its location in the Canadian Rockies–formed 100 million years ago from the uplifting of the seafloor. Processing plant fiber into a fine paste, hundreds of individual handmade paper ‘eyes’ were poured, pressed, dried and then glued together to create this organic form that mimics the cellular structure of living organisms once alive under the sea. Encapsulated within a Victorian styled vitrine with cabriole legs (derivative of the French cabriole “a leap like a goat”), the ‘living’ fossil sits in relationship with another animal in this re-examination/animation of the natural world.

Out of My Mind (2015-2021)

In these photographic collages, Samour embeds samples of her past work alongside sketches, color tests, research, and other print ephemera she has collected over the years. Photographed and printed to scale, the works are a physical representation or snapshot of the relationships the artist makes between her work and the visual arts, current events, science, technology, and the natural world.