SAM KELSER – A HUGO SHAPED HOLE
Updated: 13 hours ago
SIXTEEN GALLERY |1 – 7 OCTOBER
SAM KELSER PRESENTS A HUGO SHAPED HOLE
EXHIBITION OPEN | daily 10am – 5pm
LATE NIGHT OPENINGS | Friday 2nd & Saturday 3rd until 10pm
A Hugo Shaped Hole explores the ways in which creativity can emerge from loss. The exhibition brings together a collection of contemporary figurative paintings inspired by people, relationships and the stories that exist beneath the surface of everyday life.
'Using expressive figures, vivid colour and theatrical settings, I create moments that suggest a story without revealing exactly what has happened. The characters, relationships and circumstances are deliberately open to interpretation, leaving the viewer to find their own meaning and imagine the stories unfolding beyond the canvas.
Alongside these imagined scenes, the exhibition also includes three paintings inspired by existing photographic and visual imagery. Two are based on photographs taken by Rob Bremer in the 1980s, while another is inspired by a 1984 image of Pink de Thierry with he family. These works reflect my interest in the way a single captured moment can suggest an entire life, relationship or untold story.
The exhibition takes its title from the space left by the death of my dog, Hugo, in 2022 — a space I began to fill with art. What began as something positive and healing has grown into an ongoing fascination with people, emotion, psychology and the countless stories we create about one another.'
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Sam Kelser is a self-taught contemporary figurative artist working primarily in acrylic. Her expressive paintings explore people, relationships and the stories that exist beneath the surface of everyday moments. Based in her home studio within a Gothic 18th-century church, Sam’s work is influenced by expressionism and her fascination with human nature and psychology. She uses faces, vivid colour, composition and theatrical settings to create open-ended narratives.
'I am a self-taught artist who began painting in 2022 following the death of my dog, Hugo. At the time, I turned to painting as something positive and healing to focus on, initially developing my practice from a home-based studio. What began as a way of filling a space created by loss has since grown into a passionate and evolving artistic practice.
Working primarily in acrylic, I have developed a contemporary figurative style influenced by expressionism, with a particular interest in people, relationships, human nature and psychology. I work from my home studio within my Gothic 18th-century church home, using acrylics and mediums to create texture on canvas, alongside soft and oil pastels for layering.
My work has been selected for the Jackson's Art Prize extended longlist in 2025 and 2026. In 2026, I will hold my first solo exhibition, A Hugo Shaped Hole, at Sixteen Gallery in Montpellier, Cheltenham.'
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