Samantha Keely Smith
Samantha Keely Smith’s paintings explore the dual worlds in which we exist: our inner lives and the changing world around us. The paintings represent the landscape of the psyche, the place where the conscious and unconscious meet, where outside forces and our own human nature collide as we grapple with our place in an ever-changing and reactive environment. While painting, Samantha intersperses traditional brushwork with pouring and staining, and uses solvents and scraping to break up the oil-painted surfaces. She makes use of accidental moments in this process to further explore ideas of control vs. chaos.
“The paintings represent the landscape of the psyche – the place where the conscious and unconscious meet. In her work Samantha addresses the delusions of order and control that human beings cling to as we navigate the fundamental unpredictability of reality and sense our own finiteness in the immensity of time and nature.
The existential and the personal—the exterior and the interior—are intertwined in Samantha’s paintings. Throughout all her work there is an appreciation for the fragility of life and at the same time our boundless capacity to feel hope. She sees her work as an opportunity to call attention to our commonalities by sharing deeply personal experiences that are, at the same time, universal experiences.
Samantha’s painting process reflects the constant push and pull between order and chaos. By using solvents and scraping to break up the still wet paint, she opens up the possibility of accidental forms and marks. She responds to those results, putting a little of her own order back into the chaos. This process continues over several layers, resulting in images that hover between figuration and abstraction.” – Samantha Keely Smith
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Thor & Jennifer Bueno with Samantha Keely Smith
Blown glass and oil paintings 30 Jun - 27 Aug 2022Created through a variety of techniques, the Buenos silvered and colored glass elements are arranged into wall-mounted compositions inspired by river stones and cairns, wildflowers and indigenous plants, pearls, and...Read more -
Samantha Keely Smith
solo exhibition 22 Feb - 26 Jun 2021Samantha Keely Smith's paintings explore the dual worlds in which we exist: our inner lives and the changing world around us. The paintings represent the landscape of the psyche, the...Read more -
Introducing Two New Painters
Oil Paintings by Paul Sattler and Samantha Keely Smith 27 Jun - 31 Aug 2019Dramatic narratives unfold in Paul Sattler's charged and enigmatic oil paintings which reference historic and literary sources. Sattler comments, “A diverse population of animals are enmeshed in my works’ human-inhabited...Read more
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Samantha Keely Smith & Casey Roberts Visit Asheville
Back-to-back Artist Visits, Friday May 14th, 5-7:30pm May 11, 2021 -
Momentum Gallery Opens at 52 Broadway!
February 28, 2021 -
SOFA 2019 - An Art Fair To Remember
November 5, 2019 -
Samantha Keely Smith
New oil paintings convey complex emotions through abstract landscapes June 18, 2019