Sam Falls (b. 1984)

Sam Falls’ wide-ranging multimedia practice interrogates the relationship between material and process. He is particularly fascinated by the corrosive effects of over-exposure, whether to the photographic lens or to the natural elements themselves. Untitled (Black Fade, Joshua Tree, CA) was created by wrapping boulders in hand-dyed sheets of heavy-duty linen, and leaving them on an isolated, rocky hillside in Joshua Tree for several months. Bleached and burnt by the sun, wind and rain, the so-called ‘fades’ are marked by the weathered imprint of the boulder, its shape seared into the very fibre of the linen. Falls’ fascination with capturing the ephemeral has found multiple modes of expression: from copper and aluminium sculptures with deliberately untreated surfaces, to colourful pastel and pencil rubbings of his Los Angeles studio floor. Born in San Diego in 1984, Falls’ practice is marked by a constant, fast-paced search for new techniques and ideas. Within the last year, his work has been exhibited at institutions including the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, the Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, the Zabludowicz Collection, London and the Giuliani Foundation, Rome.