Samantha Fern Wolfe’s practice sits at the intersection of art, design, and sustainability. Her work is shaped by a belief in art’s power to transform. With a background spanning art direction, set design, and painting, Samantha’s journey reflects a constant drive to create experiences that are both visually striking and deeply meaningful.
Her latest collection, Insect Patterns, explores the idea of pattern on several levels — from the decorative forms created on the page, to the rhythms of nature, to the intricate markings of each species itself. By painting insects close-up, Samantha draws attention to their fine sensory hairs, wide eyes, and subtle textures, details that reveal individuality and spirit. The series challenges the assumption that insects are insignificant, instead presenting them as sentient beings with personality and a vital place in the ecosystem.
STORY
Samantha’s creative career has always been about bringing spaces, stories, and people to life. For nearly a decade she served as Art Director for Standon Calling Festival, shaping its evolving identity through large-scale installations and immersive design. Her ability to transform environments later took her to the BFI’s private members club, housed in the dramatic Welsh Chapel on Charing Cross Road, where she led the art direction and created an atmosphere that was both striking and intimate.
Beyond these long-term roles, Samantha has contributed her vision to a wide variety of projects. She created large-scale murals and street art for venues and festivals such as Passing Clouds and Cally Fest, and produced bespoke design work for various festivals and private events — including one attended by Prince William. She has also independently photographed, designed, and produced album artwork, and her graphic design work includes event flyers and custom invitations for private parties, reflecting her ability to craft visuals on both intimate and expansive scales, always seeking ways to connect people through creativity.
Today, Samantha runs the paint department at Little Parrot Set Construction, where her focus has expanded into sustainability. She has launched an in-house initiative to re-use and recycle materials from the TV, film, and events industries — finding new life for sets, props, and paints that would otherwise go to waste. Alongside this, she is beginning to fold the same ethos into her own practice, experimenting with reclaimed canvases and leftover materials as part of her painting process.
At the heart of all these projects is a consistent thread: a fascination with human experience and our relationship to nature and to each other. Whether transforming a festival site, painting a portrait, or giving discarded materials a second life, Samantha’s work invites people to look closer, engage more deeply, and imagine new possibilities.