Patrick Samuël
Artist & Adventurer
Patrick Samuël, born in 1964, is an adventurer and artist, well-educated, gentle in spirit but wild at heart. He is a French-Swiss dual citizen. He lived in several countries and grew up multilingual. The scent of the wide world is in his DNA.
From a Swiss alpine village to Mexico-City
His varied life journey started in the 1970s when he was a teenager and he immigrated with his family from a small Swiss alpine village to Mexico City. There, he visited the Colegio Suizo de México.
It was a cultural shock!
… but it has been the fundament to a life of constant movements. For Patrick Samuël, painting means primarily observation, down to the smallest detail. This is requesting a lot of his time which he is willing to spend especially while his adventurous travels.
Polyglot
Patrick Samuël is a polyglot bon vivant speaking five languages fluently.
So far, my life is a string of happy coincidences.
Words he utters without any false modesty. He has the ability to plunge into foreign cultures and to adapt them, which makes him feel at home wherever he goes.
Côte d’Azur
Patrick Samuël is currently commuting between Switzerland and the South of France, where his artist’s studio is based.
There is something mysterious about the light of the Côte d’Azur, it is magical for me. The almost continuous sunshine streaming through my studio inspires my creative process.
Forces of Nature
The forces of nature are his inspiration to be humble towards life. Exploring the world is helping him to get the big picture.
Patrick Samuël remembers climbing tall trees in stormy weather as a boy to feel the forces of nature unleashed.
At that time, the aspiration for adventurous activities evolved. For example, climbing active volcanoes, extreme skiing, freighter trips across stormy oceans or diving with humpback whales. He developed a passion for the sea and is also a certified divemaster.
While swimming or diving, I forget about time. Moving under water means being weightless in a three-dimensional space. A state that normally only astronauts know.
The Ocean
A big source of inspiration for Patrick Samuël is the ocean. He usually starts his day with a long swim in the sea.
Plunging into the clear water at dawn and swimming for an hour invigorates both body and mind. Crawling requires rhythmic breathing and movement, and after some minutes I feel like I am gliding across the waters surface in a meditative state. The warm colours of the rising sun contrast with the cooled tones of the dark underwater world – an immense inspiration for my art and my everyday living.
This statement is typical for him. From this simple activity he gains qualities from which he appears to be both grounded and dreamy at the same time. Samuël is living for the moment and is able to gain energy from every moment.
Sir Ernest Shackleton
The passion for adventure culminated in 2019 in a two-month sailing expedition to Antarctica on a on a three-masted bark from anno 1911.
“Following the footsteps of the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton” is how Samuël is describing this expedition. In fact, the ship followed a partial route of the Endurance expedition of 1914–1917, to the Weddell Sea, Elephant Island, South Georgia, where the explorer’s grave is located.
Antarctica
Unlike Shackleton, the 2019 expedition started in Ushuaia, crossed the Drake Passage to Antarctica and entered the Weddell Sea, continuing to Elephant Island and South Georgia (where a toast was raised to Shackleton at his grave), then to Tristan da Cunha to the destination Cape Town.
This two–month expedition from Tierra del Fuego to Antarctica, South Georgia and South Africa was breathtaking. Sailing that far over 100 years later and with forty other crew members in a similar sailing vessel to Shackleton’s “Endurance” has left a deep mark on me.
The paintings and photos in the Antarctica series reveal what he is referring to.
Artwork, driven by life
Patrick Samuël’s artwork is showing as diverse as his life is. The motifs reflect his rural origins, his way of life, his cosmopolitan vision and his love in adventure. What they all have in common is an expressive handwriting, strong colours and a singular aesthetic.
Blog
Do you want to know more about the passion of Patrick Samuël?
View his personal blog on monsterwaves.net.
