Meet Kerrie Smith

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kerrie Smith.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was born and raised in England and always had a passion for creating. My earliest memories are when I was about four years old, and my mother would give me old wallpaper sample catalogs that I was able to use and turn in to sketchbooks. My love for patterns, textiles, nature, and color filled my days in rainy England. When it came to my teens there was really no other direction for me to go in but the arts. So at 17 I left the Somerset countryside and my summer job as a dairymaid for 144 Friesian cows and moved to London where I was accepted and graduated with a BA Honors in Theater and 3-D Design from Central Saint Martins London. I worked as a theater designer in England, France, Holland and the United States collaborating with directors/designers Richard Eyre, Pamela Howard OBE, Ralph Koltai OBE, Lucy Parker, John Tillinger and John Wells to name but a few of the wonderful talent that was in the British Theater/Film at this time. So after five years of working in London and Europe, I moved to NYC. It was love at first sight and with a 6-month work visa which I was able to extend for three more years. I lived in the West Village and worked as a designer and was very fortunate to supplement my income as a model with Ford Models Agency.

I moved to California in the 1990s and worked at the Mark Taper Forum and for many commercial production companies in LA but as a single parent I started to look for another town to raise my sons. I checked out Ojai first then Santa Barbara, which not only offered us a great place to grow as a family but also enabled me in 2001 to begin a new chapter and career as the Founder and Director of a non-profit organization named Art Walk for Kids/Adults with outreach programs for artists with disabilities. I also created an art curriculum approved by the Santa Barbara County Art Commission for at-risk kids and the Hope District Schools. My programs received Congressional Awards from both Assembly Woman Lois Capps and Congresswoman Hannah Beth Jackson. Happily, I continued doing this until 2015, and with both of my sons heading off into the world I made a promise to return full time to painting. So I moved to LA to be with my partner Coleman and immerse myself in this incredibly creative city.

Please tell us about your art.
My latest series is titled Equipoise/Vapours. In these paintings, I make reference to a world that is constantly changing via incredible leaps of technology and unbelievable strains upon the environment. This has caused me to ask, “How we can arrive at a place where balance has been found between technology and nature?“

At what point do we begin to realize that we are not moving through a passive landscape? In these paintings, I imagine portraits of the organisms capable of lasting thousands of years, shining a light on our planet’s resilience in the face of human intervention. My work is a reflection that describes the complex counterbalance of asymmetries found in the dynamic forces of nature and a more sustainable way to relate to the Earth.

‘Vapours’ Works on aluminum that filter perception through the lens of nature, and lived experience. Through my observations, I hope to recreate the transcendence of quiet moments—the play of light witnessed on hikes in the Icelandic mountains that celebrate the sublime in the quotidien. The ephemeral as seen through the bubbling Vapourous forms of the circular light and color in the ineffable Icelandic landscape. Wrapped Shapes bounded by curves that describe the continuous transitions of light and color.

‘Equipoise’ series explores balance, examining ‘Patterns’ in our environment –this work is a reflection which describes the complex ‘counterbalance’ of asymmetries found in the dynamic forces of nature and a way to relate to the Earth. Subtle variations of complementary hues and warm and cool rhythms of light create an equivalence on all sides of the canvas. These bold and colorful paintings explore counterbalance through tensions between radially symmetrical compositions of geometric parts and dynamic color as light. The order of symmetry and geometry is strongly counterbalanced by oppositional color patterns and layering of lively painterly color shape.

Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
I do think artists have a big responsibility today, there is just so much to comment about, and it’s impossible to absorb everything that the media reports. I do think you just have to find your own voice and through that, you can share and communicate what moves you the most. I know with my latest body of work I’m very driven by our climate changes. My current endeavor is to capture our changing planet. Consequently, my artwork examines patterns in our environment—urban and industrial as well as natural. I’m interested in the changing intersection between a place in the city or nature. As an artist, I feel a responsibility to address these changes and the environmental impacts they have had in the California fire-driven eroding mountains, deserts, and coastlines.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I’m currently showing my work at the Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert- ‘Metamorphosis’ until April 12 and so far this year I’ve shown at the Wilding Museum Solvang, Westmont Ridley Museum Santa Barbara, Gallery INC Studio 50 LA, Channing Peake Gallery Santa Barbara and later this summer at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art. I really try to take every opportunity that comes my way, group shows, museums, etc. It’s a very exciting time for women painters, and I really believe that our timeline has changed. With supportive groups like Southern California Women’s Caucus for Art SCWCA, we have many opportunities and support from our fellow artists and audience to share our message and creativity. Digitally you can see some of my work on Saatchiart.com, my website or through my Instagram account.

Contact Info:

• Address: 224 S. Ave 66
  Los Angeles
  Ca 90042
• Website: Kerriesmith.net
• Phone: 805-570-1663
• Email: kerriecan@gmail.com
• Instagram: Instagram_kerrie_smith_artist
• Facebook: www.Kerrie smith
• Other: www.saatchiart.com

Image Credit:
William Fedderson
Coleman Griffith
Marlene Catherine Picard

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