Since becoming an artist my work has been filled with social commentary.  I painted the figure in abstract places and incongruous settings; the bovine became a metaphor.  Portraits presented a point of view.  I strayed  into the world of surrealism; I told a story.  
 
Just prior to moving to RI and during the pandemic I was eager to leave this world of allegories behind and take a more formalist approach to painting.  I did a series called Biotics and created some totally abstract pieces.  Although these images could be surreal there was no message assigned to them.  As we came out of the pandemic and the world returned to greater chaos, I realized that once again I needed to add content to my work.  
 
In response to our times, I created a series called Passages.  I wish to show the breadth of human migration and its origin.  My practice includes strong attention to color and design.  Imagery comes from direct observation, photographs and the imagination.  Several painters have influenced me, especially Jacob Lawrence for his grounding in reality and René Magritte for his willingness to reinvent reality.  Through the use of inventive notation and abstraction I hope to refute time and place creating a universal point of view of the human journey.    

 ©All images copyright of Sheila Smith.                                           ​