Sam Doctor’s art practice can be seen as an ongoing confrontation between humankind and the environment, highlighting the fragility of mankind in the face of natural forces, exposing the Faustian side of human nature and our will to contain what cannot be contained. His practice incorporates a range of artistic strategies: video, sculpture, photography and performance. Doctor also regularly collaborates with musical composers to construct soundscapes that either complement or feature as integral parts of his work.
Doctor graduated from Sydney University, Sydney College of the Arts with Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours) in 2006, andcompleted a Masters of Research in Visual Arts in 2013. He is undertaking his PHD. In 2019 Doctor was a finalist in the Blacktown Art Prize and in 2018 he was a finalist in the Black Prize. In 2017 he received the (APA) Australian Postgraduate Award and was awarded the Australia Council of The Arts, Skills and Arts Development, Barcelona, Spain in 2015. He was an Artist in Residence at the 3331 Arts CYD, Tokyo in 2012. In 2011, he was offered the Janet Holmes é Court Artists’ Grant Scheme supported through the donation by Mrs Janet Holmes from the Visual Arts Court, financial assistance, Australia.
Doctor hasexhibited extensively in both Sydney and Melbourne, in galleries including CHALK HORSE and Sherman Galleries. He has shown at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art and at the project space at CACSA, Adelaide.His work has been screened at Federation Square in Melbourne and is held in many private collections both in Australia and internationally. In 2021, Doctor was a finalist in the Blake Prize. He was the winner of the 2022 Fischer Ghost Contemporary Art Award. Recently Formats published a large format publication titled Temporal Terrains which acts as avisual essay of Doctor’s investigations, as well as an enlightening essay by Associate Professor Dr Jacqueline Miller. Last year Doctor exhibited work in the Ecologies Project at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington VIC.
His work is in the Artbank collection, as well as private collections both in Australia and internationally.
