ABOUT
Sammi’s books are currently OPEN for Autumn and Winter appointments, please fill out the booking form HERE !
Enamoured by the surreal and romantic, Sammi paints and tattoos quiet interactions, managing to balance stillness and movement like a slow motion breeze in her figurative scenes. Recurring in Sammi’s work are meditations around life altering but quintessentially human themes and expressive interactions between sentient beings. From here she dips into things like current societal observations and psychological archetypes.
Sammi grew up in the arts and as a small kid adored spending time in her dad’s studio. She tagged along on countless art excursions with her father, Yianni Johns, and as she got older began to attend life drawing, help at her dad’s galleries and participate in group exhibitions. Other deeply influencial artist mentors include Graeme Balchin and Russell Austin from whom she learned by painting with them as often as she could. At the age of 20, Sammi found herself being welcomed into one of the most progressive tattoo studios of the time. Sammi has been in the tattoo industry for almost 2 decades and has developed an approach to tattoo as a medium that is distinctly painterly in its application.
Sammi now owns a private tattoo studio and art gallery in the Dandenong Ranges, Victoria. Both her tattoos and paintings are acquired by collectors on an international scale.
Most recently, Sammi was invited by the Victorian Artists Society to speak alongside doctors, neuroscientists, academics and the like about her experience with tattoo at the ‘Imprint’ Symposium. The Art of Storytelling -
‘Stories on the Skin’
“Sammi Edney explores the personal and cultural significance of tattoos as an evolving narrative, rooted in tradition yet shaped by individual experiences. This presentation will cover the historical role of tattoos, how the act of getting tattooed becomes a profound part of the client’s story, and how it transcends the physical to forge deeper connections…”
Contact: info@sammisideup.com
ARTIST CV
Education:
2014 Certificate IV in Visual Arts. Charles Darwin University, Darwin, NT.
Exhibitions:
Solo
2017 Feb, ‘Harem’ Solo exhibition Carwyn Cellars, Melbourne VIC
2013 Sept, One Day Art Auction, Darwin NT
2012 October, ‘Mojo Guru’ Solo exhibition, DVAA Darwin NT
2010 July, ‘Untitled’ Solo exhibition – Gnostic Mana, Woy Woy NSW
Selected Group Shows
2025 Christmas Salon - Victorian Artists Society, East Melbourne, VIC
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2025 March, Open Studios Group Exhibition, Burrinja Cultural Centre, Upwey, VIC
2019 May, Ardlethan Art Prize, Ardlethan, NSW
2014 Feb, Nan Giese Gallery, Darwin, NT
2013 Nov, Members Show at Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin, NT
2013 July, ‘Art is easy (and all music sounds the same)’ Chan Contemporary Art Space, Darwin, NT
2012 Group show at Pavonia Place, Darwin NT
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2010 Under The Blue Moon Art Prize, Polymorph, Newtown NSW
Selected Features:
2025 Presentation and Q&A at the ‘Imprint’ Symposium, Victorian Artists Society.
2017 Short biopic made by Melbourne based Videographer Cristian Gutierrez of ResFilms documenting my art and practice.
2013 ‘At The Studio, Making In The Top End’ Darwin - Featured in book published by Darwin Visual Arts Association.
Collections:
Works held in private collections all over Australia, Bali and France.