Audrey Smith

Audrey Smith was born in 1972 in the Washington, D.C. suburbs. Growing up without television meant that Audrey had to find creative and imaginative ways to amuse herself, and that often lead to big creative projects like building entire towns from Lego blocks and clay, and of course plenty of drawing and painting. Making things was always a serious pursuit. At the age of 14 Audrey began making mixed-media jewelry that was sold by a local shop. It became evident from an early age that art would always play an important role in her life.

In 1990 Audrey was introduced to the work of Max Ernst and the Dada movement after a chance encounter with a professional painter. During a visit to the painter’s studio, Audrey was given a monograph of Ernst’s work and it forever changed the way she thought about art. She began to experiment with collage, and for the first time began to think about what it meant to be a serious artist. She enrolled as a studio art major at Montgomery College in Rockville, MD concentrating on painting, but by the time she transfered to Towson University in Towson, MD her focus had changed to ceramics and sculpture. Audrey earned a BA in art from Towson University in 2003.

Around 2007 Audrey began creating collages in a Moleskine sketchbook as a creative exercise. A year into the project she began to take another serious look at collage and mixed media art, and it blossomed into a new creative focus. Audrey stopped working in clay at that time and pursued collage making as a serious endeavor. Her work has evolved from simple abstract constructions to a more narrative and surrealistic style. She combines vintage and antique medical and science illustration, photographs, and advertising with rich color, patterns, and type. Her work has been exhibited in the United States and Europe and has been published in books and art periodicals.

Audrey will be showing with Maggie Kleinpeter at BLAST April 14 - May 7, 2012.