LISA-MARIE PRICE WORKS FROM HER STUDIO IN HERTFORDSHIRE, CREATING PAINTINGS THAT ARE GROUNDED, CONTEMPLATIVE AND MATERIALLY SENSITIVE. HER PRACTICE IS SHAPED BY ECOLOGICAL AWARENESS AND A QUIET, DELIBERATE RESTRAINT—AN APPROACH THAT RESISTS EXCESS IN FAVOUR OF ATTENTIVENESS AND CARE.
BEGINNING WITH THE LAND ITSELF, SMITH FORAGES EARTH MINERALS TO HANDCRAFT HER OWN WATERCOLOURS, APPLYING THEM TO OFF-CUT LINEN. THIS DEEPLY CONSIDERED PROCESS REFLECTS A COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABILITY WHILST FOSTERING AN INTIMATE CONNECTION BETWEEN ARTIST, MATERIAL AND ENVIRONMENT. EACH WORK EMERGES AS BOTH OBJECT AND RECORD OF THIS RELATIONSHIP.
MY ARTISTIC PRACTICE IS DEEPLY ROOTED IN SUSTAINABILITY, MINDFULNESS AND RESPECT FOR THE NATURAL WORLD,” SMITH WRITES. “THIS ONGOING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE RAW ELEMENTS OF THE EARTH IS CENTRAL TO HOW I CREATE AND CONNECT WITH MY MATERIALS.
HER PAINTINGS DRAW FROM BOTH URBAN AND RURAL LANDSCAPES, OPENING SUBTLE DIALOGUES AROUND CLIMATE CHANGE, THE COSMOS AND THE NEED TO RECONNECT WITH THE WORLD AROUND US.
INFORMED BY PRINCIPLES OF ECOLOGY AND CARE, SMITH’S WORK OCCUPIES A SPACE BETWEEN ABSTRACTION AND LANDSCAPE. RESTRAINED MARK-MAKING, TONAL SUBTLETY AND A THOUGHTFUL USE OF NEGATIVE SPACE INVITE PROLONGED LOOKING—A QUIET RESISTANCE TO ACCELERATION AND EXCESS.
WHETHER INSTALLED AS SINGULAR WORKS OR PRESENTED IN MODULAR PAIRINGS, HER PAINTINGS FUNCTION AS MEDITATIVE ANCHORS, OFFERING BOTH AESTHETIC REFINEMENT AND PHILOSOPHICAL DEPTH.
