May 2025 - Lois Samuels unveils a new ceramic series titled, “Wave Medallion.”  This newest body of work expands on the vernacular of her Open and Portal collections, all currently on view at Twentieth, the pioneering contemporary design gallery based in Los Angeles.

“Wave Medallion is a meditation on the journey of being—on what it means to be carried by the ever-moving tides of life,” describes Samuels. This new body of work sees Samuels revisiting her honest approach to her signature material of dark clay. No glazes or other treatments that would mask the material’s earthy texture and color are used, giving the works a refined but unconcealed presence. As in Open, fabrics are included in Lois’ process, pressed into the clay body. The fabric, Samuels explains, “leaves behind its imprint; textural memories of what once was, embedded in the form.”

In Wave Medallion, Samuels frees the clay body from horizontal planes, allowing them to explore new postures and relationships to the earth and surrounding objects. Affixed to walls, hanging within space, they inhabit the world in a new way. 

Starting with generous horizontal clay disc-like shapes, Samuels then hand-works the clay bodies into medallions of various sizes, shapes and textures. The process is freeform and organic— gathering, folding, crumpling and smoothing until the right shape and sense of movement appears. Adorning the surface are small, hand-formed clay beads and spheres, a motif also seen in Samuel’s earlier Portal collection. In Wave Medallion, these surface embellishments represent “the offerings, burdens and beauty we carry as we navigate the journey of life,” says Samuels.

The final medallions are then joined together with leather in a series or singly. “These medallions are not fixed objects, but moments of becoming,” asserts Lois. “They speak to the intoxication of change, the beauty of fluidity and the quiet strength it takes to surrender to the rhythm of transformation.”

About Lois Samuels
Lois is a multimedia artist whose professional career spans photography, fashion design and ceramics. Born in Jamaica, Lois traveled the globe as a model appearing on the covers of Vogue, Essence and in the landmark CKOne campaign, as well as working with an international roster of designers from Givenchy to Miyake. Lois went on to establish her own women’s fashion and accessory brand, the Vessel, which was featured in WWD, Italian Vogue, LeMonde and other leading publications. Samuels has also published two books, one on the modeling industry, the other a book of photography published by MacMillan Publishers (UK), that captures the light and soul of her island home. LoisSamuels.com

Her work is available at Twentieth and 1stDibs.
For high-resolution images of the Wave Medallion collection, get in touch.