In the Studio with Sam Songailo
Multidisciplinary artist Sam Songailo’s designs and installations have brought new life to public spaces across Adelaide. At his studio with a view in the Adelaide Hills, he sheds light on his creative process and the music that influences his work.
Sam Songailo’s work is influenced by rhythm.
“I like to work intuitively, basically, so try not to question my ideas too much,” the multidisciplinary artist says from his studio in Basket Range, which is engulfed by lush greenery.
“I like to have some good music on and just get lost in the work and forget that I’m doing it. Then I get into that state where everything is flowing really nicely.”
That is, apart from the days where the music just isn’t fitting his mood.
“This morning, I couldn’t find anything good to listen to – you know, those days where nothing sounds good.”
Mostly, Songailo works to electric mixes – or, for lack of a better term, music with “electric vibes”. But occasionally, other influences make their way in. “I had a phase where I was just listening to Celtic music, which is pretty random,” he says.
Songailo works with paint, light, video, large-scale installations and sculpture, and his backdrop is often public spaces. He has previously created artwork for places such as the City of Adelaide skate park at Ityamai-itpina (Park 15, off Wakefield Road), Bowden train station, and Bank Street in the CBD.
Sam Songailo in his studio at Basket Range. Photo: Jack Fenby
Each piece of Songailo’s work has many of the aforementioned elements speaking to each other. This approach started after he created a mural at Splendour in the Grass in 2016.
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“I painted this big mural in a tunnel, and then the curator said, ‘Oh, now you’ve got to light it’, and I hadn’t really thought about lighting at all up until that point,” he says.
“When I saw my piece lit up, I realised that this was something that I wanted to explore, and so I started to try to create works that had light in them instead of paint, and that needs to be sculptural, too.”
"I’d name work after an effect on my drum machine or after a reference to a song that I like"
This relationship between light, painting and rhythm had always been in the subtext of Songailo’s work, even before the music festival.
“I remember first, when we first plugged it in at Splendour, and I saw the lights working for the first time, I had this like realisation about my painting practice,” he recounts.
“I used to paint these paintings, and I didn’t know what to name them… I always felt that a musical analogy was something that seemed to suit them, but I didn’t know why. I would kind of just roll with it and I’d name work after an effect on my drum machine or after a reference to a song that I like.
“I could see that my work that I created with the lights moved in a sort of rhythm. I realised that that rhythm was the same thing that was in my paintings.”
Songailo’s installation work often incorporates light. Photo: Jack Fenby
Songailo grew up around creatives. His parents were printers and graphic artists, and his intention was to follow in their footsteps.
“Back when I was a kid, there was a thing called a graphic artist,” he says,
“Before graphic designers, graphic artists would design the work, but they’d also physically draw up the artwork, and then they would make plates for the printing – it was a much more manual process, and computers weren’t really involved at that stage.
“It’s not really a trade that exists any more, and so I studied design, and then at some point I just started hanging out with artists.”
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Then came the painting, which started out on canvasses, old doors and bit of chipboard – whatever the artist could find in his early career.
“Then I would go to the gallery, have an exhibition and try to hang this all. I realised it took ages to hang the work, and that got me thinking about the space and planning out where I would put paintings before I even started the paintings.
“And then further to that, I started thinking about painting the space itself, and then that kind of naturally led to installation works and making spaces that people could go into in galleries.
“The natural step for that, really, was to go out into public space.”
Songailo sees public spaces like galleries – blank spaces that are generic and need an artist to give them meaning and life.
Sam Songailo’s artwork in the paving on Prospect Road. Photo: Tom Roschi
In his studio, he is currently working on a new public art commission that he can’t reveal the details of just yet. However, he happily talks about another of his most recent projects, in which he worked with the Guildhouse Professional Services team, award-winning WAX Design studio and a City of Port Adelaide Enfield project team on an upgrade to areas of Prospect Road in Kilburn and Blair Athol. Songailo created designs that were used on light poles, paving and murals.
“As soon as I saw the brief, I immediately had an idea of what I wanted to do,” he says. “It’s just like a flash in my mind.
“I knew I wanted to do paving – an artwork in the paving – and some lighting artworks. And I knew exactly what it would look like, kind of before I’d even sat down and drawn it out.”
Sam Songailo’s designs for the City of Port Adelaide Enfield project included the integration of light poles, paving designs and murals. Photo: Tom Roschi
Songailo was paired with Christine Cholewa, an experienced artist who was managing the project.
“Christine really helped guide me through what, for me at the time, was probably the biggest project that I had ever worked on. It was great working with Guildhouse and Christine.”
When creating a space for the public to enjoy, Songailo says no matter what vision he has for it, people have their own rhythm they move to.
“I kind of see my role as creating something, a space for the people to interact with, but I’m not trying to sort of guide what they’re doing or get particular a response out of them.
“My experience is they just do stuff that you don’t expect. I’m just trying to make it make a nice space for people and how they respond is up to them.”
Sam Songailo is surrounded by nature in his Hills studio. Photo: Jack Fenby
In the Studio is a regular series presented by InReview in partnership with not-for-profit organisation Guildhouse. More information about Guildhouse Professional Services can be found here. Read more about Sam Songailo’s practice on his website and Instagram.