Influenced by the landscapes that surround her, Sharon Smith has explored the forms and colours of the Occident, and now continues her research through those of the Orient. She constantly pursues her one theme, “Inner and Outer Landscapes,” through a diversity of Media. This has been most beneficial, as it has demanded that she become skilled in oils, watercolours, printmaking, and exploration of the digital ethos.

Smith responds to the 2004 Iowa Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Miniature Prints with a series of collograph prints. These have been inspired by the landscapes that surround her boat moored in Asia and then printed by her at the Hong Kong Open Printshop.

Smith describes art to be a form of communication through images, once seen, expressed as visual emotion, to create a changed reaction within the viewer. She goes on to explain that she does not wish to impose a prescribed image upon the viewer, but rather to make an offering in the form of an image that may elicit another image, or a new image within the viewer’s mind.

Printmaking for Smith combines the craft of working within the press to the artistic exploration of an image charged with the constant “wow” when a print appears from beneath a blanket. For over five years Smith has been pushing—and continues to push—the boundaries of a simple piece of cardboard as a printing plate. The journey is not yet over and her research not yet complete but the technical knowledge and sensitive images continue to grow. Sharon Smith sees collographs not as an exact art, but as a continual process of exploration with an open forum for experimentation and intuition.

Sharon Smith strongly believes in continual global connection and exchange as the means towards the development of an international art forum.

From her ocean trawler presently moored in the Hong Kong waters, Smith continues to direct and manage the tour of the United States, France, and Australia, of the cutting edge international group show, “Seraching for Clues.” This show, which opened in Hong Kong in 2003, presented an opportunity for an international framework of artists’ to answer the questions, “what do we teach?” and “what do we learn?” Smith reached out as curator and artist to a dynamic network of artists to bring into being “Lost and Found” which opened in Hong Kong in 2002, and will tour Australia until 2004.

In 1999, Smith held her Hong Kong debut exhibition, “Inner and Outer Landscapes,” and in this, she addressed the question, “is the computer an artist’s tool?” She was the architect and curator of the international group exhibition “Under the Bed,” held in Hong Kong in 2000. In this she challenged invited artists to present archival works, and so to reveal their significance.

Sharon Smith continues to work as an independent visual artists open to all incoming stimuli to which she responds in a visual format that may offer answers or pose questions as a form of education to others.

Instructor and Committee Member of the Hong Kong Open Printshop since 2000.

Member of the Hong Kong Graphics Society Since 2002.

Education
Advanced Graduate Specialist Degree, Art Education, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland [1994]
MA, Humanities Education, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania [1992]
MA, Art Education, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania [1987]
Postgraduate Certificate in Education, Art and Design, Brighton Polytechnic, Brighton, England [1984]
BA [Honors], Art and Design, Portsmouth Polytechnic, Portsmouth, England [1980]

2005
“In Your Dreams” International Artists, Touring Hong Kong & Australia

2004
“Searching for Clues” International Artists, Touring United States and France

2003
“Searching for Clues” International Artists, Economist Gallery, The Fringe, Hong Kong
“Searching for Clues” International Artists, Economist Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
“Lost and Found” International Artists, Economist Gallery, The Fringe, Hong Kong
“Lost and Found” International Artists, Economist Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
“Gallery Ferry” Ferry Terminal, Hong Kong
“Graphics Art Exchange, Heilongjiaing-Hong Kong” Hong Kong Visual Art Center, Hong Kong