35mm portrait by Lean Timms. Processed with a skeleton leaf found on site.

Artist Statement: Sammy Hawker is an Australian-based visual artist working predominantly on Ngunawal / Ngunnawal / Ngambri Country [Canberra Region, ACT].

Through practices of reciprocity (facilitated acts of co-creation) Sammy's works explore the potential of interspecies dialogue, giving voice to the presences of more-than human worlds. These works ​​reflect on ​how knowledge and memory is inscribed within materials, spaces and bodies.  

Sammy’s multi-disciplinary practice embraces photography, printmaking, text, sculpture, sound and moving image. These works form a vast and ongoing archive, documenting sites and moments of exchange. Read more about Sammy’s process here.

The artist acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters which on (and with) she creates her work. She extends this acknowledgement to all First Peoples of Australia and recognise their continual connection and care for Country. 5% (or more) of profits from Sammy’s artwork sales goes towards organisations supporting the vitality of Country. 

For enquires:

email: samantha.v.hawker@gmail.com
instagram: @sammyhawker
phone: +61 422 436 087

Artist Bio: Since graduating with First Class Honours from Sydney College of the Arts in 2015, Sammy Hawker has been recognised both nationally & internationally for her experimental approach to photography. 

Over the past 5 years, Sammy has exhibited several critically acclaimed solo-shows. Works from these shows have been acquired by the Canberra Museum & Gallery, the ACT Legislative Assembly, the Canberra Hospital, Goulburn Regional Art Gallery, Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre and sold widely to private national and international collections. Sammy’s work has been exhibited at the National Museum of Australia, Canberra Museum & Gallery, Canberra Contemporary Art Space and as part of the 2022 Canberra Art Biennial. 

Sammy was winner of the 2022 Mullins Conceptual Photography Prize and the winner of the 2023 Canberra Contemporary Photographic Prize. Over the years she has been a finalist in numerous prizes including (more recently) the 2024 National Photography Prize (MAMA), 2024 Mosman Art Prize (in collaboration with Uncle Owen Carriage) and 2023 Bowness Prize (Museum of Australian Photography). In 2021 Sammy was a recipient of the Canberra Critics Circle Award for photography for her exhibition 'Acts of Co-Creation'.

In 2024 Sammy was artist-in-residence at both Woollahra Gallery and Goulburn Regional Art Gallery, exhibiting new solo shows at these galleries. Her show Conversations with bees at Goulburn Regional Art Gallery was nominated for a Museums & Galleries of NSW IMAGinE Award. In 2025 she was the annual funded artist-in-residence at Tweed Regional Gallery with her solo show Worlds Around Us exhibiting at the gallery from June - November 2025.

Sammy is currently in the UK on a partnered residency between The Corridor Project (AUS) & Messums: Org (UK) (funded by The Ian Potter Cultural Trust and artsACT). Her first international solo-show Ghosts & Monsters is exhibiting at Messums West (Wiltshire, UK) from October 2025 - December 2025. In mid-2026 she is travelling back to the UK to present the work from the residency at the opening of Messums East.

At the end of 2026 Sammy will be presenting a survey show of her work created between 2020 - 2025 at Orange Regional Gallery which will also exhibit at Canberra Museum and Gallery in 2028.

photo credit: Anna Hutchcroft

Artist CV / Exhibition Archive:

Education

  • Bachelor of Visual Arts (First Class Honours) completed at Sydney College of the Arts [2015]


Selected Prizes / Awards / Acquisitions


Solo Exhibitions


Residencies

  • Artist in Residence | Messums ORG x The Corridor Project International Artist Exchange Program [2025]

  • Artist in Residence | Tweed Regional Art Gallery [2025] 

  • Artist in Residence | Goulburn Regional Art Gallery [2024] 

  • Artist in Residence | Woollahra Gallery [2023/2024]

  • Artist in Residence | the CORRIDOR project [2022-2025]

  • Project Alchemy | funded by Rebus Theatre [2022-2023]

  • Artist in Residence | PhotoAccess [2021]

Public Works


Selected Group Shows

photo credit: Anna Hutchcroft

photo credit: Anna Hutchcroft

4x5 photographic negatives processed with ocean water and drying in my studio. Photo credit: Rohan Thomson

Sammy processing film on site. Photographs by Lean Timms.

Processing photographic film on site (Walbunja Country). Photo credit: Lean Timms.

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