Samantha Yates is a glass artist based at South Square, Thornton in West Yorkshire. She uses the pseudonym Lil' Rabbitfoot for her artwork. .

Her new work has developed through sustained research into historic memorial windows and the social function of stained glass as a means of commemorating loss. Engaging with these works has highlighted the immense scale of death they were created to mark, and the role of art in giving form to grief when language is inadequate.

“My research has led me to move away from decorative imagery toward the creation of symbolic representations of mourning, ritual, and emotional response. I am particularly interested in gestures associated with death, such as the placing of flowers on the grave, and how these acts function as expressions of care, belief, and remembrance across cultures and throughout time.

I am drawn to the symbolism within landscape of grief, weeping trees in graveyards and bowed branches that reflect the posture of grief, reinforcing mourning not only as an emotional state but something enacted physically and spatially.

My work explores grief as a shared human experience. The objects I create are intended to hold emotional weight quietly, inviting reflection rather than explanation”

Samantha has a unique background in Environmental Science, the Waste Management Industry and 15 years teaching Horticulture.