Sam Talbot Kelly

The Artist Wears Many Hats

Artist. Teacher. Blogger. Filmmaker. Vermont’s Samantha “Sam” Talbot-Kelly fits into all of these categories, and many more.

“I’m not a filmmaker yet,” she responds, modestly, when I run by the list of descriptions I’ve amassed for her work. “I happen to go between disciplines, that’s for sure, but I’d just say that I’m an artist and depending on the concept, I decide whether to do it in painting or film or installation or sculpture or illustrations.”

And film.

Talbot-Kelly, who is based in Montpelier, is in the early stages of putting together a film — with the assistance of cinematographer Carlos Diaz — that will look at the studios of professional artists in Vermont and explore how being based there affects their work. “Sometimes, those artists are bringing the world in to their practice, in the sense of, it doesn’t matter where they are, it just so happens they’re able to practice in Vermont and they have enough isolation,” she said.

The film, “Feral State,” will “flesh out” the context of the creative world of Vermont’s professional visual artists, covering all of its generations from those just out of school to those who’ve been doing it throughout most of their lives.

“We visit the artists’ studios to film them and they share their creative process, their philosophy, their manifestos, their discipline and what their relationship is to the land of Vermont, living here as professionals, how does this relationship make impact or no impact on their art work while living on the fringes of big urban centers such as New York and Boston,” Talbot-Kelly said.

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