Samuel Morrow
Surry Hills, Sydney NSW · samuelmorrow@observerism.com · 0410 644 852 · @observerism
Artist statement
I paint what physics describes but cannot show. The focal point of each work is collapsed reality, rendered fully resolved and determined by the viewer's attention. The periphery stays a wave: the structure of light before it has been looked at, painted rather than blurred away. Between them lies the transition boundary, where possibility becomes fact, and where each painting takes its position on the act of observation.
The Scientist Series portrays scientists whose research domains become the wave geometry surrounding their likeness. The first work was acquired by Dr Alan Finkel AC, Australia's former Chief Scientist. The practice is called Observerism.
Collections
The Observer of National Science
Portrait of Dr Alan Finkel AC, oil on canvas, 180 × 120 cm. Private collection of Dr Alan Finkel AC, Melbourne. Acquired by the subject, together with its study.
Finkel Study
Oil on canvas, c. 80 × 60 cm. Private collection of Dr Alan Finkel AC, Melbourne.
Works available for institutional acquisition
The Observer of Dark Matter
Portrait of Professor Elisabetta Barberio, oil on canvas, 180 × 120 cm. Painted from a sitting at the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory. Available for acquisition or long-term loan.
The Observer of Cosmic Expansion
Portrait of Professor Brian Schmidt AC, oil on canvas, 180 × 120 cm. Painted from a sitting at Mount Stromlo Observatory. Available for acquisition or long-term loan.
Landscape Series
Lizard Rock and Red River Above the Blue, both oil on canvas, 120 × 150 cm. Available for acquisition.
Method
Self-directed study in the physics of observation
Ongoing reading in wave optics and measurement, carried into the studio as a construction rule rather than a subject. The ring radii and spiral geometry of every work are set from that rule and then painted by eye. The construction is set out at observerism.com/theory.
Professional background & training
Building designer — architectural lead, Sydney
The building design training informs Observerism's formal rigour: the three-element structure of each painting is specified with the precision of a structural system, not loosely defined as aesthetic preference.
Diploma of Building Design
Self-taught as a painter, with the discipline of the design profession behind the studio practice.
About the practice
Observerism is a formal art theory founded by Samuel Morrow that translates the physics of observation into large-format oil painting: a fully resolved focal zone (the observed), a wave-state periphery (the not-yet-observed), and a transition boundary set by the viewer. The full theory is at observerism.com/theory.
For a press kit including high-resolution images and full provenance documentation, write to samuelmorrow@observerism.com.