Exhibition Celebration & Artist Talk: Samantha Walrod

Newzones is thrilled to present “Off the Beaten Path”, an upcoming solo exhibition of new work by Canadian contemporary artist Samantha Walrod.

Join us for the exhibition celebration on Saturday, September 26th from 2-4PM, in conjunction with ADAC's annual Art Hop. We're excited to have Walrod joining us for the celebration and partaking in a casual Q&A artist talk at 2:30PM.

“Off the Beaten Path” considers how humans view and interact with wildlife in the Canadian wilderness from a “close” distance. Motorists and hikers observe animals from cars and trails while the animals watch in return. Bears, elk, and wolves are depicted on the edge of the wilderness, adjacent to roads and thoroughfares, visible to humans before disappearing onto paths less accessible to human transportation. Walrod’s artwork represents a fleeting moment of human/animal interaction while observing the essential but shrinking distance between human/animal habitats.

Samantha Walrod’s work is influenced by similarities and differences between imagined and reconstructed environments. She uses many layers of paint, collage, photography and inks, as tactility is a very important element of her practice. Images are incorporated with collage and digital technologies, while maintaining the exploration of paint. In reconstructing disparate images from various sources including art history, popular culture and her own photos, Walrod addresses the cultural construction of nature. The act of collage brings construction to the surface of Samantha Walrod’s artworks; the edges of ripped paper, slight tonal differences in the photographs and the addition of paint and mixed media on top of the images all act as a filter or an interpretation of the subject matter.

The layers of materials act as a symbol of the mind’s ability to retain detailed information, while at the same time leaving certain elements unclear. In her own words, Walrod “reacts to the paintings with each layer or erasure, adjusting contrasting activity and quiet, opacity and transparency, chaos and balance.”

Samantha Walrod received her MFA in Painting from UofA in 2013, and obtained her BFA from AUArts in 2008 with distinction. In 2018, Walrod was awarded the “RBC Work Room” residency at the Art Gallery of Alberta. Walrod’s work can be found in the collections of the Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton), Alberta Foundation for the Arts (Edmonton), University of Alberta (Edmonton), Peaks Hotel and Spa (Banff) and various private and public collections world-wide.

"Off The Beaten Path" is on view September 12 - October 10, 2026.