Artist in Residence

Galway Arts Centre is delighted to announce Victoria Smith as its new Artist in Residence. Victoria will work in the GAC studio from May – October 2012.

Artist Statement/Bio
Victoria Smith constructs installations and sculptures alongside appropriated moving and still images that suggest the happened upon snapshot, the captured moment, which is often presented in the recreated built tangible installation site of the gallery or off site space. There is a critical, theoretical, historical, and social context to her practice.  Smith creates curiosities that examine interacting elements within the installation resulting in a commentary on social behaviors, interests, morals, stories, culture, actions, or lack of within our contemporary world. Her readymade appropriated realities challenge normal thought patterns through the creation of an interruption into the norm during the experience of the work.
Her practice aims to explore de Certeau’s and Nina Montmann’s philosophical themes of the practice of everyday living and opacity. Her choice of materials negotiates this philosophical narrative within a cultural and architectural space, often a fragmented urban or rural site. Connections, memory, loss, and identity are played with to develop a trajectory of new thought that may manifest as an installation or a project that functions as a way of thinking through different models of interaction, participation, and collaboration. Her sites aim to become places of visual research and analysis. The work enables conversations between the viewer and individuals through the art of conversation. The essence of the space and the choice of material are modern and familiar to the viewer as they see them or recognize them from everyday life.
During her residency at Galway Arts Centre, Smith aims to create a new body of work in response to the ‘Bell Jar Syndrome’ concept within capitalist society today. This project will take place across three phases: research, development and production. The aim is to access the layers people hide under during times of crisis and the blanket of silence and lack of voice or desire to protest. The end result will be a series of new media video installations immersed within a series of Bell Jar City installations and sculptural interactive bell jar analysis machine called ‘Bubble’.
Smith is a visual artist, writer, and artist curator. She makes contributions to RTE Radio 1 Arena, Arts and Culture programme. She has taught in the primary, secondary, FE and third level setting over ten years. In 2011 she completed her MA, Art in the Contemporary World, and NCAD with honours and was chairperson on the board of 126 Artist led Gallery in Galway.
www.vickysmith.ie