| Roxanne Smith |
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Smith was born in and grew up in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. She was interested in painting and photography as a child. She was encouraged in this direction by her father who was also an artist. As she was entering her high school years she moved with her family to Sackville, New Brunswick for her father to attend university. Upon graduating from high school she enrolled in Mount Allison’s Fine Art Department and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a major in photography.
After graduating from Mount Allison University, Smith moved back to Halifax, Nova Scotia. She began exhibiting, first at Eye Level Gallery At Eye Level (1984) showing paintings and her first assemblage piece, next at the abandoned and repurposed City Club on Barrington Street at the Ecphore exhibition (1986) showing paintings and drawings, and then her first solo exhibition at Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery Preservation of Hope (1990) showing assemblage pieces only. She participated in several group exhibitions at Eye Level Gallery, Anna Leonowens Gallery, and a group exhibition of works collected by the Nova Scotia Art Bank at the Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery, before her second solo exhibition Sub Rosa in (1996) at ARTsPLACE in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. This was an exhibition solely of assemblage pieces with an installation piece. Smith exhibited two solo exhibitions; 2000, 2001, of her photographic work before exhibiting two pieces from Doorways are in the Spirit as Light is in the Air in 2001 in Toronto in Emerging Sculptors Exhibition. The first exhibition of the entire Doorways are in the Spirit as Light is in the Air was in 2002 at ARTsPLACE in Annapolis Royal, the second in 2004 at Saint Francis Xavier University Art Gallery in Antigonish. The next three solo exhibitions 2006, 2007, and 2009 were all photographic at ViewPoint Gallery in Halifax.
Smith’s work can be found in the collection of the Nova Scotia Art Bank: Self Discovery (Watch Out! / for after all, it is only on the lonely road that you meet yourself) 1989 (assemblage), The Childhood of Prometheus 1992 (assemblage), Siren 1994 (assemblage), New York City, NY 2003 (photograph), Signal Lights Halifax NS 2006 (photograph), Storm Approaching Laguna Beach CA 2004 (photograph), Low Tide, Cape Split, NS II 2008 (photograph), and Ebb Tide, Bay of Fundy, NS 2008 (photograph). Also in the collection of the Canada Council Art Bank: The Garden at Midnight 1991 (assemblage), and in the collection of the Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery: Here’s Your Chance To Achieve A Small Moral Victory 1988 (assemblage). Several private collectors also collect her work.
Smith’s employment and other activities influenced her artwork; display technician creating window displays for clothing retail stores, work with an amateur theatre group, and later, at a photographic retail store and lab. And, while at University, summer jobs doing archival matting and framing of Owen's Art Gallery's print collection for two years and for one year working on a project to locate and record all the decorative art objects in the University’s collection and organize all the information for inclusion in a National Inventory System.
Smith has been a member of CARFAC (Canadian Artists Representation / Le Front Des Artistes Canadiens) since 1985. She signed up with CAR©C in 1991. Both of these organizations work for the economic rights of visual artists. She has been a member of VANS for many years and of ViewPoint Gallery since 2004.
She can be reached at saxumi at ns dot sympatico dot ca
After graduating from Mount Allison University, Smith moved back to Halifax, Nova Scotia. She began exhibiting, first at Eye Level Gallery At Eye Level (1984) showing paintings and her first assemblage piece, next at the abandoned and repurposed City Club on Barrington Street at the Ecphore exhibition (1986) showing paintings and drawings, and then her first solo exhibition at Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery Preservation of Hope (1990) showing assemblage pieces only. She participated in several group exhibitions at Eye Level Gallery, Anna Leonowens Gallery, and a group exhibition of works collected by the Nova Scotia Art Bank at the Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery, before her second solo exhibition Sub Rosa in (1996) at ARTsPLACE in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. This was an exhibition solely of assemblage pieces with an installation piece. Smith exhibited two solo exhibitions; 2000, 2001, of her photographic work before exhibiting two pieces from Doorways are in the Spirit as Light is in the Air in 2001 in Toronto in Emerging Sculptors Exhibition. The first exhibition of the entire Doorways are in the Spirit as Light is in the Air was in 2002 at ARTsPLACE in Annapolis Royal, the second in 2004 at Saint Francis Xavier University Art Gallery in Antigonish. The next three solo exhibitions 2006, 2007, and 2009 were all photographic at ViewPoint Gallery in Halifax.
Smith’s work can be found in the collection of the Nova Scotia Art Bank: Self Discovery (Watch Out! / for after all, it is only on the lonely road that you meet yourself) 1989 (assemblage), The Childhood of Prometheus 1992 (assemblage), Siren 1994 (assemblage), New York City, NY 2003 (photograph), Signal Lights Halifax NS 2006 (photograph), Storm Approaching Laguna Beach CA 2004 (photograph), Low Tide, Cape Split, NS II 2008 (photograph), and Ebb Tide, Bay of Fundy, NS 2008 (photograph). Also in the collection of the Canada Council Art Bank: The Garden at Midnight 1991 (assemblage), and in the collection of the Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery: Here’s Your Chance To Achieve A Small Moral Victory 1988 (assemblage). Several private collectors also collect her work.
Smith’s employment and other activities influenced her artwork; display technician creating window displays for clothing retail stores, work with an amateur theatre group, and later, at a photographic retail store and lab. And, while at University, summer jobs doing archival matting and framing of Owen's Art Gallery's print collection for two years and for one year working on a project to locate and record all the decorative art objects in the University’s collection and organize all the information for inclusion in a National Inventory System.
Smith has been a member of CARFAC (Canadian Artists Representation / Le Front Des Artistes Canadiens) since 1985. She signed up with CAR©C in 1991. Both of these organizations work for the economic rights of visual artists. She has been a member of VANS for many years and of ViewPoint Gallery since 2004.
She can be reached at saxumi at ns dot sympatico dot ca
