Sam Meredith (b. 1991, London) works intuitively and directly, letting materials misbehave through an act of roughing things out. The process introduces a sense of openness to this discovery, and becomes central to the production of his sculptures. Each work is a series of amorphic forms contained in pieces of architecture, negotiating completion, expanding from the middle out.

While at Slade, Meredith discovered how thinking, working, and making have intertwined and overlapped to create a physical and densely layered archive. He uses a wide range of processes based on the history of sculpture, including woodwork, metalwork, casting, printing, recreating forms and reforming found materials. Time and labour emphasise the quality of the work, and Meredith listens carefully to where his work needs to go.

Meredith’s degree show comprised fourteen sculptures in metal, wood, and concrete; Melt came to be through a process of annealing, hammering and forming aluminium sheets. A plasma cutter was used to create the melted edges, before the five individual strips were sandwiched together and joined with rivets.

Meredith previously studied at the University of Brighton and at the School of the Damned. Previously he has undertaken two residencies at the Organhaus Programme (Chongqing, China), and has been awarded by the Arts Council England (Artists’ International Development Fund). During the Slade he was awarded the Gilbert Bayes Charitable Trust postgraduate grant and the Adrian Carruthers Award for his degree show presentation. This award is a partnership with ACME that offers an bursary, a studio space and mentoring programme (2024-5) tailored specifically to the graduate’s practice. His work has been exhibited widely across the UK, and in Italy and China.