Samuel Webster is a freelance artist working in multiple mediums. He was born in Sydney, Australia in the mid 80s and spent the 2010s living and working in Tuscany, Italy before returning home.

Samuel was the founder and  Editor-in-Chief of online arts journal, Mood of Monk, and now has multiple projects under his belt including two books of poetry (Protogenos and Silencing the Dictator), collaboration with world-renowned choreographer Rafael Bonachela (2 One Another), and various other independent projects.

I met Samuel first through the poetry of his writing before I met him personally, but there was an immediate recognition of a remarkable spirit… I am in awe of the way in which he can capture the physical art of dance, the aural art of music and grasp inner meaning which he effortlessly translates into words. It is such a gift.

Rafael Bonachela, Sydney Dance Company

Forget the tortured artist. Webster is a profound talent, but clearly optimistic and happy.

Kylie Flavell, L’Uomo Vogue

History:

For five years, Samuel worked on multiple video projects for Tiny Green Gorilla Productions, taking on various roles ranging from Production Assistant to Event Director, before completing his studies and working full-time as a freelance artist in Australia and Italy. Samuel’s first professional success came in 2006, when he was studying for his Bachelor of Arts degree and won the National Youth Week Senior Industry Award for a short story which competition judge Michael Short (Executive Editor, The Age) called “a sophisticated and sensitive melange of surrealism, emotion and innocence.” Samuel was also a finalist in the Youth Week photographic competition in 2007, and his short film, LAPSE, won both the Senior Industry Award and People’s Choice Award of Youth Week 2010. Samuel’s photographic work was publically exhibited in a 2006 cafe installation entitled ‘RGB’, and has received public acclaim on photographic blogs worldwide.

As a musician, Sam has performed in many musical ensembles He also took on the role of co-producer and engineer for Unfinished Business and Old School, released by OnFire Big Band in 2004 and 2008 respectively. Additionally, he has worked as recording assistant to producer and professional drummer John Morrison for various clients in Sydney.

Having already collaborated with one of Australia’s pre-eminent Artist Directors at such an early stage in his career, Webster has a bright future ahead.

Zac Bayly, Pages Digital

[Protogenos] is a unique concept which typifies why Webster is so successful at what he does.

Monique Cowper, Hornsby Advocate

Education:

Samuel completed his Honours degree in Communications, from UTS at the end of 2007 with a poetic thesis about the political interaction between Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler. This was later published alongside a selection of independent as ‘Silencing the Dictator (and other poems)’. In 2010, he completed his Masters of Creative Writing from Macquarie University and, in 2011, his Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary School)

As a photographer, musician, film maker and writer, Samuel’s creative output has focused mostly upon the crossover areas between the creative arts, including such areas as visual poetry and music reviews. In this capacity, he has instructed undergraduate students at the University of Technology, Sydney in the area of cultural analysis, an academic strand which borrows heavily from anthropology, social sciences and the humanities. He was also a regular tutor in English and Writing, and has given multiple creative seminars to students under taking English creative major works for their Higher School Certificate.

In Italy, Samuel lived in Pieve Santo Stefano, a small Tuscan town where everybody knows his name.

Pieve Santo Stefano, in the last while, has an authentic cat amongst the pigeons, a character from outside who ended up in this small place, to make a kind of ripple effect…

Michele Foni, Televaltiberina

Haunting and powerful in its intimacy, [Ofelia voleva soltanto nuotare] holds a mirror to the ills of a society failing to stand up for the safety and rights of all women, and a voyeuristic media hungry to blame the victim.

Mitch Ziems, The 8 Percent