Samantha Russell was born in Flint, Michigan and currently lives and works in Southeast Michigan after much moving around. The daughter of an artist and mechanic her life was filled with socially perceived opposites as she was introduced to everything art was and could be. Being born in the the 1980's in a generationally poor family Samantha learned to appreciate a simpler way of living as society rapidly advanced with technology, organically developing many skills used in her art practice. As someone that rarely fit others idea of who she should be, Samantha stubbornly identifies as she/her as a way to to build on the feminist notion that women can be whatever they want. After a late start, Samantha studied sculpture in Detroit, and Minneapolis, earning her terminal degree at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. After graduation she was awarded an internship with the Kunstvereine program and spent 2 months in Würzburg, Germany as assistant to President of the Arte Noah. Since returning to Michigan in 2019 Samantha has worked in arts academia and maintains a robust art practice spanning a multitude of material and processes to continue the legacy of the importance of hand made objects and the bodily experience in a time of increasing digital dependancy.