The mismatch between how we look on the outside and how we actually feel on the inside is central to Angela Smith’s practice. Her three-dimensional glossy paintings range from fully abstract works with taut, distended skins of heavy coagulated paint to strange, creature-like forms. Surfaces shift between mirror-like smoothness and deeply textured wrinkles and furrows.
Angela Smith peels back the layers of social conditioning to reveal the emotions and thoughts we instinctively conceal. Through her creature paintings, she explores the tension between our outward personas and our inner emotional lives, inviting viewers to confront feelings that are often hidden behind civility, expectation, and self-control.
Containment of paint is important in Angela Smith’s abstract paintings. The sculptural protrusions may appear fragile and ready to burst, yet they remain resilient, encasing their innards within an impermeable shell. This enveloping signifies the shielding of emotions and the masking of anxiety and unease. Providing a place of safety to listen, watch, consider and contemplate.
Angela Smith is a contemporary painter living and working Sussex, UK. She has exhibited extensively across the UK and her work is held in private collections.
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