Sam Lucas

Sam Lucas is a British artist who creates ambiguous figurative objects, primarily in clay. Her work is not about making “pretty things” but rather about sparking conversations on uncertainty and vulnerability. She uses clay’s expressive and therapeutic qualities to explore feelings of social awkwardness and displacement.

After earning her MA in Ceramics with distinction from Cardiff Art School, she was awarded a year-long graduate residency at Fireworks Clay Studios in Cardiff and was selected for The Rising Stars award. She later exhibited at Mint Gallery in South Kensington as part of the London Design Festival 2019.

A major milestone in her career was being selected for AWARD, the headline exhibition at the British Ceramics Biennial 2019, where she caught the attention of curators Brian Kennedy and Peter Ting. This led to her work being shown at Art Genève 2020 in Switzerland with Taste Contemporary. That same year, she joined the Crafts Council Hothouse programme and was later selected for the Martinsons Award (3rd Latvia Ceramics Biennale, 2021) and Galerie Lieux-Communs, Ceramic Art Andenne (2022). Her work has also been featured in several publications.

In 2021, Sam was awarded a fully funded AHRC practice-based PhD in ceramics at the University of Sunderland (Northern Bridge Consortium). Her research explores neurodiversity and body awareness through clay.

Her work has been included in peer-reviewed exhibitions and conferences, with research published in Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture (2024), Shards, South Wales Potters Magazine (2024), and a recent application to RUUKKU, Aalto University of the Arts Helsinki. She will soon exhibit in a group show curated by Julia Ellen Lancaster at Stephen Lawrence Gallery, London.

Visit Sam Lucas’s website and Instagram page.