Kim Smurthwaite
b. 1971, East London, South Africa
Exhibitions:
The Lighthouse, Poole, Dorset, 2022
Works in Progress, Roper gallery, Bath Artist's Studios, Bath, Somerset, 2023
Bath Artists Degree Show, Bath Spa University, Bath, Somerset, 2023
Aqua Sulis, OXO Tower Wharf, Barge House St, London, 2023
Residency:
Nothe Fort, Weymouth, Dorset, August, 2022
Education:
BA (Hons) Fine Art, Bath Spa University, Bath, Somerset, 2023
Foundation, Weymouth College, Weymouth, Dorset, 2021 - 2022
My paintings are energetic recordings of interaction and correspondence. I approach a new canvas with anticipation at the prospect of ‘newness’; excited and opportunistic. A dialogue commences after the initial layering down and the ensuing struggle takes the form of an intuitive dance of back and forth, inflict and respond. Within these dynamic exchanges, forms of negotiation become apparent, and a painting's success lies in the little resolutions, little resting places that arise as a result. These moments manifest as emotional landmarks, comprehended at once in a fleeting moment as a felt dynamic.
Other times, much more radical forms of attack are employed, a sander helps to soften areas or large areas are worked over with thin washes of colour.
Canvases are large and embrace the full reach of my arm so creating an equal energetic playing field. Layers build and newly reached visual conclusions often then becomes the instigators to new dialogues, the canvas always in a state of becoming. Working mostly in oil paint and drawing medium, I am always looking for new interactions and outcomes. I have recently begun exploring working in 3D with malleable materials such as mud, straw, wax and fibre.
Now based in Dorset, UK, my life living in South Africa has afforded me the benefit of experience and perspective. Visually rich and diverse cultural exposure continues to inform my canvases and making, as well as inspiring vigilance to my own complacency and predisposition.