Artist Statement

Bec’s formal design background shapes her visual output, as well as the particular line of enquiry she follows in order to translate her work. An interest in the ‘dynamics between things’: what people say and do, time, cause and effect, duality. Her fascination with people and how they interact with their surroundings is what drives both her art and her career. Through her work as an Experience Designer (UX Designer) she investigates and documents other people’s thoughts, emotions and circumstances so that their needs are translated into an intuitive digital experience. Her art follows the same pattern and her paintings are realisations of actual, and idealised situations. But whether an exchange, an emotion, or an environment, her paintings expose a particular moment in time for how she experienced it.

Biography

At secondary school and university I undertook both Art and Design, and have dedicated my whole career to these disciplines. I’ve worked both in Australia and overseas for over 20 years as a digital designer, and during this time I’ve always practiced art. I’ve painted colour-study portraits of my colleagues, co-created an installation for the Melbourne Design Festival, kept visual journals, and painted artworks for friends’ walls. I have always stayed particularly interested in abstract, expressionist, non-objective, and colourfield paintings from the early part of the last century – a natural extension of a designer’s grounding in the early design language of the Bauhaus.

Exhibitions

2025    We Live In A Rainbow Of Chaos, group show, Kelli Lundberg, Moorooduc, Mornington Peninsula
2024    Grounded in the Bold, offsite exhibition with Daimon Downey, Saint Cloche, The Fenwick, Sydney
2024    12:34 And Other Fortunate Events, group show, Creo Melbourne, Cremorne, Melbourne
2024    Metamorphosis, Bec Smith/Evi O/Saxon Quinn for Saint Cloche, Sydney Contemporary, Sydney
2024    Escapade, group exhibition, Saint Cloche, Sydney
2023    INTERCHANGE, dual exhibition with Kirsten Perry, Saint Cloche, Sydney
2023    Etherium, Offsite exhibition, Saint Cloche, Tiffanys, Sydney + Melbourne
2023    BEST LIFE, group exhibition, Saint Cloche, Sydney
2022    COAST TO COAST Fundraiser, Saint Cloche, Sydney
2022    LORES, dual exhibition with Charlotte Swiden, No Vacancy Gallery, Melbourne
2021    THE ARC OF HAPPINESS for Sydney Contemporary, Saint Cloche, Carriageworks, Sydney
2021    TERRAIN, solo, Saint Cloche, Paddington, Sydney
2020    Talismans, Rafts, Momentos, group, Modern Times, Collingwood, Melbourne
2020    INNER MECHANICS, solo, Creo Gallery, Cremorne, Melbourne
2020    CASSETTE, solo, Saint Cloche, Paddington, Sydney
2019    SUB, solo, Saint Cloche, Paddington, Sydney
2019    Scales of Time/Linear Notion Fools, Wundergym, (Guest mentor Hannah Mathews), Schoolhouse Gallery, Collingwood
2019    Camouflage, Wundergym, (Guest mentor Troy Emery), Schoolhouse Gallery, Collingwood
2019    Beg Borrow Steal, Wundergym, (Guest mentor Jacqui Stockade), Schoolhouse Gallery, Collingwood
2018    CAMEOS, solo, Saint Cloche, Paddington, Sydney
2018    TERRA OZTRALIS, group, Outre Gallery, Melbourne
2018    ODE TO THE SUBURBAN SONGBIRD, group Tinning Street Gallery, Brunswick, Melbourne
2018    NO PEACE IN QUIET, group, Charity Art Exhibition and Auction, Melbourne
2018    PARENT & CHILD, group, Grainstore Arts, Nathalia, Victoria
2018    THIS IS HOME, Book Launch & Exhibition, group, Sydney
2018    THE MIDCENTURY PROJECT, installation, ICI House, Melbourne Design Festival
2017    JET SET, group, Saint Cloche, Paddington, Sydney
2017    MUTUAL ABSTRACTION, dual show with Hannah Fox, Junior Space Gallery (ARI), Fitzroy
2016    TIDY MIND/PUNK HEART, solo, Pop and Scott, Melbourne
2016    SMALL WORKS PRIZE, open group, The Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne
2014    BELLE ARTI PRIZE, open group, Chapman & Bailey, Melbourne
2007    BEAUTIFUL VIEW, installation with Annette Wagner, Melbourne Design Festival

Collaborations & Special Projects

2023   Moxy Hotel Sydney, M.A.S.H and Saint Cloche, commission for salon wall
2023   Moxy Hotel Sydney, M.A.S.H and Saint Cloche, commission for salon wall
2022   Fixed Points Wine, 2022 Grenache, custom wine label
2021   Leif Products Australia, limited edition print & custom packaging, Mother’s Day campaign
2020   Creo Gallery, Melbourne, custom studio mural
2020   Arc Pilates, Melbourne, studio wall sculpture
2020   Pop and Scott, Melbourne, Make It Rain Fundraiser commission
2018   ‘Pattern For Yemen’ silk scarf design, Friends of Mine Studio X The Souvenir Society
2018   Neometro, custom artwork for virtual showroom
2018   Neometro, custom artworks for Jewel Station Project, Brunswick
2018   Sculptures for Man About The House (Tim Ross/Kit Warhurst) in collaboration with Pop& Scott, Melbourne Design Week, ICI House, Melbourne
2013   Painting for poster design for Man About the House show, Melbourne Comedy Festival

Education

• Wundergym artist mentor program (as artist), Melbourne
• The Art Room, Melbourne
• CAE, Melbourne
• The Art Academy, London
• Swinburne National School of Design, Melbourne / Bachelor of Design (Graphic Design)
• Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
• Sunraysia Institute, Sunraysia

Media

2022   Commission artwork, in The Design Files
2022   Lores by Bec Smith & Charlotte Swiden, Hunter & Folk by Emma-Kate Wilson
2022   Two Artists Come Together To Explore The Art Of Storytelling, The Design Files by Sasha Gattermayr
2022   27 inspiring artists to follow, by Bed Threads
2021   Explore Sydney Contemporary by Saint Cloche
2020   RUSSH Magazine, Showroom X Art Annex with Saint Cloche by Ella Jane
2020   State Of The Art Interview with Annika Priest for PBS Radio
2020   Hunter & Folk Interview, by Emma-Kate Wilson
2019   TDF Collect, Art & Artefact Exhibition
2019   The Design Files, Sub Exhibition article by Miriam McGarry
2019   The Grace Tales Interview by Amy Malpass Hahn
2018   ParlourX, In Conversation with Jasmine Yarbrough
2018   RUSSH Magazine, Embracing change with artist Bec Smith
2018   The Design Files article, Bec Smith’s Cameo Role
2018   The Design Files article, No Peace In Quiet
2018   Est Living article, Open House: Union Street, Brunswick by NeoMetro
2017   Launched Tell Tale Signs with Nikki Stefanoff, an online chronicle of other people’s stories
2017   The Design Files article, Bec Smith and Hannah Fox’s ‘Mutual Abstraction’
2016   The Design Files article, Tidy Mind Punk Heart solo exhibition
2015   House tour in Apartment Therapy