Originally from Auckland, New Zealand and now based in Sydney, Australia I am an artist and curator of Pacific Island and NZ European descent.
My photographic and video practice examines the outskirts of the city. I choose to look at areas that perhaps at one point these forgotten about spaces had a purpose but due to various factors such as economic decline they have fallen into ruin. And in some cases have begun to be reclaimed by nature. The element of what was once there in a space is what captures me; it reminds me of time gone by – of youth, of minutes, of hours. I see this longing to connect and not forget everywhere I go even in the most desolate areas. Our relationship to the landscape and how we occupy it - whether that be through the way we use land, the houses we build or the holes we dig - informs my practice. I am drawn to the notions of time and memory and how these concepts appear in the physical and psychological marks and traces that are left behind on the land.
Exploring these concepts through video, installation and photography I hope to reclaim these everyday spaces, giving them another life or function whether that is imagined or suggested. Perhaps if we are confronted with the traces of someone else's life we will examine the traces left in our own.
My curatorial practice also examines notions of time, memory and the ruin with a particular focus on photographic and time based practices. In 2017 I was the emerging curator for Firstdraft gallery in Sydney, 2018's Artbank emerging curator and am the Founder and Co-Director of Cold Cuts Project Space in Petersham.
My writing has appeared in Running Dog, Art New Zealand, Excerpt Magazine, Magasine, Artspace Auckland, Hashtag 500 words and Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust.
Contact: taliasmitty@gmail.com
All material on this site is copyright ©2018 Talia Smith, all rights reserved.
All photographs are owned exclusively by Talia Smith and protected under international copyright law. The work may not be reproduced in whole or part by any entity without my written consent.