BLACK PAWN ASCENDING QUEEN

This presentation of Gwen Smith’s work spans the last decade of her artistic life, bringing together seven projects in a continuum of association, reverberation and imbrication.

The Black Woman Project (2018-2020) pictures female visionaries that form Smith’s artistic genealogy. In Black Raggedy Ann (2020) Smith paints racialized objects from her childhood. Both Origin (2021) and Chance Whale (2022) use collaged paintings to trace indigenous pathways. Black Pawn Ascending Queen (2023) uses chess for a metaphor for the art world. Here Smith identifies with the humble but steady figure of the pawn; if she makes it across the board she will transform into a queen. New ceramics and oil paintings commemorate Smith’s recently departed friend Julia Jalowiec. Everyday objects such as shoes, socks, t-shirts take on the dimensions of loss and grief.

Black Pawn Ascending Queen
The Chance Whale / Mocha Island
The Black Woman Project
Black Raggedy Ann
millions of mixed shades and shadows
L’amour Désarmé-
inspired by Julia Jalowiec (1975-2024).
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2023).