Samantha Jane Mullen (b. 1991, State College, PA) is mostly a sculptor, sometimes a writer and always a curious creature who currently exists in Madison, WI. Self-taught, Samantha uses polymer clay, paper clay and various other mediums to create playful yet shocking narrative sculptures which focus upon our connection to the land, society, childhood and, well, monsters. Her work delves into the weird and the curious, the parts of ourselves we correct and mask and the perceived failures that act as building blocks for the walls we build between ourselves, our community and our planet. Each piece is a love letter to the panic attacked, the shame shadowed, the glittering and tired, the imagination driven dragon seekers and monster lovers, the playful, hopeful, damned but kind. Samantha Jane strives to build a mythology within her work that invokes a magical realm in which we are all little monsters exploring the unknown together, inviting the beasts within like wolves to the fire and giving them a little treat. “Life is weird. Art helps.”