About the Artist

“And Still, I Paint.”: New Exhibition by Sam Arnold Continues a Powerful Journey Through Illness, Resilience, and Art

Following the deeply personal exhibition I’M FINE, artist Sam Arnold returns with a new body of work titled “And Still, I Paint.”—a continuation of the story she began telling through paint. The exhibition reflects Arnold’s ongoing reality: a life shaped by chronic illness, grief, and mental health struggles—and an unwavering commitment to creating art despite it all.

For Arnold, the title is both a declaration and a quiet act of defiance.

The show builds directly on the emotional terrain explored in I’M FINE, an introspective exhibition that documented a year of Arnold’s medical journey through monthly paintings. Living with chronic pain and PTSD for more than fourteen years, Arnold navigates a life filled with constant medical care.

Yet viewers encountering Arnold’s work are often struck by its vibrancy. Her paintings are filled with bright colors, dreamlike landscapes, and a sense of travel and escape—visual worlds far removed from hospital rooms and treatment plans. Most audiences, however, never realize just how personal the work truly was.

I’M FINE challenged that distance. The exhibition served as a visual journal documenting Arnold’s attempt at a new pain management treatment beginning in September 2024. Each painting represented a month in her life, capturing the emotional shifts of hope, disappointment, resilience, and anger as treatments failed, surgeries followed, and the reality of chronic illness persisted.

Pain, both physical and emotional, remains a central theme in this show. During 2025, Arnold also experienced profound personal loss, losing two family members in January and July. With “And Still, I Paint.”, Arnold continues this narrative. The new exhibition acknowledges that the journey documented in I’M FINE did not end when the final painting was completed. The same companions—pain, health struggles, grief, and moments of madness—remain present.

And still, she paints.

Arnold describes the act of painting as both survival and escape: a way to travel when her body cannot, to process emotions when words fail, and to transform hardship into color and form. While her work may appear joyful at first glance, “And Still,I Paint.” invites viewers to look more deeply—revealing the resilience, vulnerability, and persistence behind every canvas.

The exhibition stands as a testament to creative endurance: a reminder that art can exist alongside pain, not in spite of it.