Sam Metz is a disabled and neurodivergent artist based in Hull. Their work aims to capture the unpredictable nature of disabled bodies by documenting short performances through drawing, film, animation and sculpture. They have an ongoing drawing series that references the repetitive self-soothing actions of stimming – a behaviour often associated with neurodivergent people – through mark-making.
Porosity expands Metz’s research in this area to consider how the body interacts with and responds to the landscape in relation to ideas around ecology, neurodivergence and sensory information. Looking specifically at the mudflats of the Humber Estuary, Metz creates sculptures in metal, wax, plaster, stone and Valchromat to articulate the limitations of such locations. Subject to seasonal flux, the mudflats offer a lack of material resistance that limits the body’s ability to ‘push back’ against the terrain. These geographies are hostile due to the man-made and environmental barriers that prevent access. They do not offer space for stimming and stretching of the body, leaving the disabled body in a constant state of restraint. Simultaneously, the work draws attention to the similarities between the twisting of the body and the undulations of the landscape and asks us to consider a harmonious space where comfort can be achieved. In Scopic Insufficiency, a video projected onto CNC milled plywood, Metz uses a LIDAR scanner to document a walk to the Humber Estuary and a train journey to Scarborough.
The technology is flawed and it fails to accurately read the complex geometry of these locations. This results in fractured landscapes that mirror the way in which Metz, as a visually impaired artist, views the environment.
The exhibition will be open to visit in person at 87 Gallery from 12 – 6:30pm on Friday 14 April, with their usual opening hours of Thursday – Saturday 10am – 4:30pm. Masked hours are from 3 – 4:30pm every day that they are open.
