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Photo Courtesy of Stella McGarvey

Image Courtesy of Stella McGarvey, 2024

Samah Rafiq (b. 2000), is a London based Artist. She completed her MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art in 2024. Previously she completed her Undergraduate Degree at UAL Camberwell College of Arts, graduating in 2022 with a First Class Honours in Fine Art: Painting. 

Well versed throughout a range of artistic mediums, Samah works mainly in oil paint. Often, she creates studies alongside her main pieces in gouache, graphite and/or coloured pencil. Samah draws her inspiration from all kinds of visual media, ranging from films, vintage magazines, and advertisements to packaging and shop store fronts.

Samah’s practice explores the semiotics of consumer imagery, exploring the intersection throughout these sign systems, and their occupation of a simultaneously sacred and profane space. Her paintings investigate the tension between popular imagery and their elevation into symbols of worship. Drawing influences from a variety of popular culture sources such as films, advertisements, magazines, and commercial displays, Samah appropriates and subverts the imagery that constitutes the human experience.

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