This Disabled Artist Paints With Soccer Balls and Hockey Pucks
Eloise Stark
Before the read
How can a disabled artist turn sports equipment into powerful paintings?
It starts with creativity, resilience, and a soccer ball dipped in paint—what happens next is unexpectedly moving.
What does accessible arts mean in the world of competitive sports?
For one sports artist, it’s about more than inclusion—it’s about expression, identity, and performance on a canvas.
Can portraits created with hockey pucks and golf clubs actually capture emotion?
You might be surprised by how much life and motion come through each bold stroke.
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Artist Samantha Woj’s Dynamic Fusion of Art and Athletics
Samantha Woj, a disabled artist and former Master’s student in art therapy, had broken her ankle and felt cooped up. Looking at the home gym she’d set up in the basement of her family home, she joked with her sister that she might as well roll a soccer ball in a tub of paint since she wouldn’t be able to play the game for a while. “Do it!” her sister said, and out of a mixture of boredom and curiosity, Woj found an old canvas, dipped the ball in the paint, and started.
“Straight away, I loved the texture,” Woj said. “It reminded me of being an athlete, of the traces and marks you make while playing sports.” She had experimented with various art forms during her studies, but this one felt right—like she could finally convey everything she wanted.
Portrait of Scottie Barnes, Samantha Woj
Since childhood, Woj has turned to sports and the arts to express herself and fit in with her peers. At times, she felt different from other kids because she was born with ectrodactyly, a congenital disorder that affects the fingers and toes. She has “two fingers on each hand,” as her Insta bio reads, adding, “What’s your superpower?”
Athletes' Portraits That Appear to Live and Breathe
Looking at her work, it’s evident that Woj’s hands are her superpower. Her artwork is stunning, with energy, depth, and dimension. Using sports equipment, she creates both abstract paintings and detailed portraits.
The abstract work is a play on color and texture, made unique by her use of spherical, imprinted balls as her paintbrushes. You feel like you could get lost in them, following the intriguing shapes, the colors, and the surprising emotions that emerge from the paint.
However, Woj’s portraits truly set her work apart. On her Instagram page, you can see videos of her process. She takes a piece of sports equipment—a ball, bat, or hockey stick—and dips it in paint, then takes it to the canvas, delicately tapping and rolling it onto the white. The work that gradually emerges under her hand is surprisingly delicate. Many of her works are monochrome, and artful shading brings to life the faces of the athletes she depicts.
Woj in front of her portrait of Serena Williams
Pictures by me Samantha Woj
Accessible Arts Meet Sports
Perhaps it’s because of how they are painted—with the objects the athletes use in their sport—but there is a vivacity and energy to these portraits, as though the athletes were suspended in time, a split second in their movement caught on paper.
It isn’t just the resulting paintings that matter to Woj. “My work has a performance element because people like seeing the process. They find it surprising,” she says. “And you wouldn’t get the painting without the experience of making it.”
Wave of Emotions, by Samantha Woj
In this way, Woj blurs the line between sports and the arts, bringing attention to the physicality of the creative process and harnessing the visual traces that sports leave behind.
The World of Sports, a Place of Belonging and Expression
Many of Woj’s commissions have come from sporting events and gyms. Among other partnerships, she has worked with NFL Canada, painting a mural during a Super Bowl event in Toronto. She painted during the 2022 CCAA Women’s Soccer Championship, and the winning team received her painting to honor their victory. Her live painting sessions have raised thousands of dollars for charities supporting women and Paralympic athletes.
Woj blurs the line between sports and the arts, bringing attention to the physicality of the creative process and harnessing the visual traces that sports leave behind.
“My work lets me be a part of sports,” Woj says. “I’ll never be a professional athlete, but this way, I can get back on the field.” Being physically active is a central part of her life—as a child, it was through sports that she first made friends and overcame the feeling of being different from the kids around her. “I could play games with able-bodied people, and that gave me a way to connect,” she explains. “The one way I really managed to make friends in elementary was through sports.”
Woj’s face lights up when she talks about sports, and she is excited about her next commission. Soon, she will do a large live painting at the RBC Canadian Open, a men’s golf competition. “I’m really excited because I’ve never worked with golf clubs and balls before!” she says. “It will be completely new textures and results.” Here at TrooRa, we can’t wait to see what Woj does next!
Contributing Team Coordinator & Content Strategist
