About
Bio
Samuel Sugar (b. 1995) is an abstract oil painter, designer, and educator living and working in Greenville, North Carolina. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing from East Carolina University in 2025. His paintings have been exhibited throughout North Carolina, and he plans to continue exhibiting his work across the Southeast.
Sugar's painting practice is rooted in personal experience, relationships, and memory. Through abstract imagery and expressive mark-making, he explores how these experiences shape his perspective and understanding of the world. Rather than offering a fixed narrative, his paintings leave room for ambiguity and invite viewers to form their own connections and interpretations.
Alongside his artistic practice, Sugar teaches high school art at South Central High School in Greenville, North Carolina, where he has worked since 2025.
Artist Statement
Working primarily with oil paint, charcoal and oil pastels, my approach to painting focuses on the process, and the experience of mark making. Whether I am scrapping, smearing, or applying broad strokes, each is done with intention and purpose. I spend just as much time reflecting on my strokes as I do make them. Stepping back and looking at the piece allows me to see the painting in its entirety and offers new perspectives letting me produce solutions to problems that may arise within the painting. I paint marks, then scrap away areas, painting over those marks, until I am satisfied with the results, and I get a sense of resolve. Using my intuition as a guide allows me to break free from predetermined ideas and discover new solutions in the act of mark-making and exploration of paint. Each painting becomes a vessel for the multitude of emotions and experiences that I am a part of. This creates a relationship between my own experiences and my work, allowing the viewer to gain a better understanding of who I am.