Stuart Smith

Artist Statement

Stuart makes drawings and printing plates outside in remote rural sites. Continually returning to the same places, he forges a close familiarity with each particular location.
Physical elements of the landscape are used as part of the process (and often as the medium for the work). He draws with pigment extracted from earth and makes stains and dyes from wild plants. Mud and organic plant material are stuck to the paper or printing plate. Sticks and stones are used to scratch and incise the surface. This use of natural, native materials to create the work helps to establish a direct physical and empathetic relationship with his environment.
In his working practice he aims to stay true to a philosophy of minimal intervention, conscious of the impact his activity may have on the environment. The imagery is developed as a consequence of this sensitive interaction with natural elements. It is also determined by an instinctive and spontaneous response to variations in weather and light, and to seasonal temporality: the transience of nature. His work is simply an expression of his experience of being in these places. Not only is it specific to place but also strictly specific to time.



1999/2001 Camberwell School of Art MA Printmaking
1996/1999 University of Hertfordshire BA Fine Art (1st Class Hons.)
2005 Sketch, Rabley Contemporary Drawing Centre, Marlborough, Wiltshire
2005 Prints, 5athe Gallery, St. Helens, Merseyside
2005 About The Chilterns, Bucks County Museum, Aylesbury, Bucks
2005 Est.1957, New Maynard Gallery, Welwyn Garden City, Herts
2003 Dundee Contemporary Print Show, Dundee
2002 London International Print Biennale, London
2001 Eastern Open, Kings Lynn Arts Centre, Norfolk
2001 Easter Open, The Place, Letchworth, Herts
2001 Art Works, Ernst and Young, Luton, Beds
2000 From the Edge, Atrium Gallery, London
1999 Solo exhibition, The Hanging Space, London
1999 Group Show, Barnet Spires, London
2005 Current Fellow of Digswell Arts Trust, Welwyn, Herts.
Centre d'Art i Ecologia d'Abella De La Concha, Catalunya, Spain

Stuart Smith