Brooke M. Smith

Due to my love of the human form, the majority of my work is figure drawing and prints. When I was thirteen my Father taught a figure drawing class at the Kansas City Communiversity where every Tuesday I would draw the female and male nude figure. It was during this time that I fell in love with gestural drawing. My Mother was a Graphic Designer at Hallmark for 30 years while my Father was a free lance artist who sold his work at Art Fairs. Since I was little my parents have encouraged me to create. Since then art making and the creation process has been my passion and continues to this day.

What I do is a reflection of my inner good and bad sides: a symbolic representation of life after death and the process of birth and rebirth. I believe every time I draw, paint or sketch the human form I have a spiritual experience. Throughout my work each individual figure drawing represents my spiritual oneness with God and the struggle between us and our ego.

Through out my work another main focus is the incorporation of nature. Like anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one, I have considered the relationship of life and death and the fulfillment of one's potential. Many times throughout my painting, drawing or print making process in order to open up my mind I found myself subconsciously asking the questions, ‘What is mortality?’ ,‘Is having lived enough?’, ‘Is death really the end?' These questions help me to better emphasize and then express how I see the darkest parts of my inner nature.

There remains a hidden madness within my work, the madness that one keeps locked up. Yet in the end, much of the work is ultimately subjective to the viewer’s own interpretation. Especially seen throughout my prints, my inner demons seem to come to light. My work represents my best and worst sides. The breadth of my artwork is figure drawings, painting, intaglio and linoleum prints. The process of print making and being able to create multiple prints from a single piece has always intrigued me. Some of my work also includes the use of different mediums such as ink, watercolor, photographs, magazine clippings, and sharpie marker.