Sam Toabe
Visiting Graduate Faculty
I work across drawing, sound, sculpture, and socially engaged art to explore and build a greater awareness of the unseen, underdiscussed, and subliminal ideas that underpin much of our world. Systems of dreams, subverting societal constructs, parts-work psychology, and synchronicities inform my ventures in materials, imagery, and sensory experiences. Recently, I was lucky to collaborate with my partner Megan Aki to produce Pocket Club, a free, community workshop where participants experiment in altering and repairing clothes while discussing the histories and politics of pockets.
Microplastics are an unfortunate byproduct of the many petroleum based products and materials that help make our world safer and more comfortable, while ironically threatening ecosystems and our bodies. These synthetic materials are everywhere, from the single use packaging our food is kept fresh in, to our toothbrushes and clothing. Despite our attempts to recycle and reuse plastics, they leave ubiquitous residues, both large and small. They form enormous gyres in the Pacific ocean and gather in the form of micro and nano-plastics in the organs of our bodies. testes is a response to this uncomfortable truth as revealed in the findings of a 2024 article published in Toxicological Sciences in which researchers at the University of New Mexico discovered 12 types of microplastics across the 47 canine and 23 human testes. All subjects tested had microplastics present.
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Sam Toabe is an artist, educator, and curator based in Somerville, MA. They lead UMass Boston’s visual arts programs as the Gallery Director of the University Hall Gallery and Arts on the Point. Since 2023, Toabe has taught MassArt’s graduate level practicum Curatorial Practices: Histories and Methods. They have curated projects with artists such as Lan Tuazon, Joiri Minaya, and Hans Haacke, among others.
