Tidal Magazine - Fall 2025
Written by Gemmarosa Ryan
Photography: Brigette Sire
…Lois’ practice is as much a reflection of herself as it is the world at large. Brimming with life, possibility, and chance encounter, receptive and responsive to the tides of the ocean and the tides of history. Fitting then, that the latest of her works, made between the darkness and light of her kitchen table, is called “OPEN.” In the place you sit, eat, receive, and be vulnerable, “you must come open,” Lois tells me. A warm invitation.
Openness seems to be Samuel’s approach to life at large. Scouted in her home country of Jamaica before turning twenty, she traversed the globe from runway to runway, Givenchy to Mugler to Miyaki, gracing the covers of German Vogue and American Essence, shot by world-renowned photographers such as Peter Lindbergh. Lois reflects, “I think the fashion industry has this facade of being so superficial and, yes, it can be phony, but there's so much creation in it.” Traveling the world and meeting so many talented individuals daily showed Samuels how life and creativity can and should go hand in hand. For Lois, the things we wear and live beside are sources of vitality "woven into the tapestry" of our lives.
Join Twentieth Gallery for an Artist hosted reception during Frieze Los Angeles
PLEASE JOIN US DURING FRIEZE FOR A SPECIAL EXHIBITION OF NEW WORKS BY
DANIELE ALBRIGHT AND LOIS SAMUELS.
ARTIST HOSTED RECEPTION
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22ND, 2025
11AM - 2PM
ARTIST AND DESIGNER DANIELE ALBRIGHT WILL BE PRESENTING CHROMA ILLUMINATA, AN EXHIBITION OF LIGHT SCULPTURES, AS WELL AS ASTRA OBSCURA, A NEW SERIES OF PHOTOGRAPHIC WORKS. CERAMICIST LOIS SAMUELS WILL BE EXHIBITING OPEN / PORTAL, AN EXPANDED COLLECTION OF WORKS FROM HER OPEN AND PORTAL CERAMIC COLLECTIONS.
ASTRA OBSCURA, ALBRIGHT'S NEW PHOTOGRAPHIC SERIES, FEATURES IMAGES TAKEN DURING THE 2024 ECLIPSE. RATHER THAN THE TRADITIONAL DOCUMENTARY STYLE OF ECLIPSE PHOTOGRAPHY, A MORE EMOTIONAL, PHENOMENAL EXPERIENCE IS CAPTURED IN THIS SERIES. THE SUN TAKES
ON A MYSTERIOUS LUNAR QUALITY, DAYLIGHT SKIES RENDER THEMSELVES INTO MYSTERIOUS NIGHT SCENES, AND THE ABSORPTION OF THE SUN INTO THE MOON OBSCURES THE IDENTIFICATION OF ONE FROM THE OTHER AS THEY DRAMATICALLY UNITE.
JAMAICAN-BORN CERAMICIST LOIS SAMUELS
A RECENT ADDITION TO TWENTIETH, WILL BE EXHIBITING OPEN / PORTAL, AN EXPANDED SERIES OF PIECES FROM HER OPEN AND PORTAL COLLECTIONS. THROUGH HER HAND-BUILT FORMS, SAMUELS CREATES DECONSTRUCTED YET HARMONIOUS PIECES THAT REFLECT THE BEAUTY FOUND IN IMPERFECTION AND EXPLORES THEMES OF MEMORY, TRANSFORMATION, AND THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS OF PAST AND PRESENT.
IN CHROMA ILLUMINATA, ALBRIGHT EXPANDS HER LUMALIGHT SERIES OF WORKS INSPIRED BY CALIFORNIA'S LIGHT AND SPACE ART, WHICH DANIELE OFTEN REFERENCES SINCE GROWING UP IN LOS ANGELES, IMMERSED IN THAT CULTURE AND AESTHETIC. THE WORKS FEATURE NEWLY DEVELOPED HUES AND LAYERING, COMBINING COLOR SATURATION AND ILLUMINATION TO RADIATE A PRESENCE BEYOND THEIR PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS.
Fall Issue - C Magazine
“I love the magic of the earth. It feels powerful and spiritual.”
Lois Samuels’ work as a ceramicist isn’t a second career.“It could be a fifth”, she says with a laugh, and that pretty much hits the mark. Born in Jamaica and raised on a farm, Samuels (whose first name is pronounced Loy) was discovered by a modeling agent while in high school. She went on to appear on the covers of Essence and German Vogue and walked the runways of such designers as Alexander McQueen, Issey Miyake, and Thierry Mugler.“It lasts like the blink of an eye”, she recalls of her modeling days.
In 2009, she designed a clothing line, Vessel, for nearly a decade and also published a book of her photography, Jamaica Through My Eyes, chronicling everyday scenes in her home country. But five years ago, when her son moved to San Diego for college, Samuels decided to relocate to L.A. and start her newest creative endeavor working in clay. “One of my first dreams was to be a farmer. I just love the magic of the earth. It feels really powerful and special and spiritual,” she says of her material of choice. “Something about L.A. reminds me of Jamaica. There’s something about the light and the topography of the land. It really feels more like home here.”
Samuels hand-builds her ceramic works (as opposed to throwing them on the wheel), a process she prizes because she feels it adds more imperfection to her sublimely earthy yet beautifully ornamented vessels. “I think they reflect the experiences that you have in life — it’s not always perfect”, says Samuels, who this year joined the roster of designers and artists at L.A.’s esteemed Twentieth, founded by Stefan Lawrence.
For her latest collection, Open, Samuels used items like vegetable skewers, spatulas, and pieces of fabric to add patterns to the forms, with the end result looking in some cases like beadwork. While she works primarily at a communal studio in Cypress Park, Samuels says that she also likes to have clay at home“, because if I just roll out of bed and I want to touch the earth, I know it’s there.”•
Ceramicist Lois Samuels at Twentieth in the Hollywood Hills with her Portal No. 1 ceramic piece from her Portal series, (below) and Open No. 30 from her Open series.
PH: CHRISTIAN ANWANDER FOR C MAGAZINE
WORDS BE: DEGEN PENER
