Nathaniel Kyung Smith

Nathaniel Kyung Smith (b. 1990, St. Peter, MN) grew up in a small Minnesota town, near the Grand Marais on the edge of Lake Superior. Dreamily he recalls how “...the water was so still and clear you could see hundreds of feet underwater.” Smith would boulder among the natural rock formations on the edge of the lake, and stack rocks on the beach, fiddling away hours studying shapes and objects in his surroundings. Significant markers of his childhood were spent working at his parent’s flower shop.

From his earliest memories, Smith knew he wanted to be an artist. “Art is a way of seeing. It can present what can only be learned and understood through feeling. It is a visceral teacher and communicator of ideas and experiences. As an artist, I am interested in the relationship with the self through the human body, and I consider the varying ways constituent parts interact. I am interested in how we project stories and personalities onto symbolic objects. Being drawn to classical and modern forms in traditional mediums, there is a pursuit of ‘divine truth’ through inventive experimentation. Through my work I seek to explore the experience of being human through figurative abstraction. The body is used as a frame or lens for its relationship to emotion, belief, environment and their inherent limitations. ‘Guardian / Messenger’ evokes a mythical creature with a divine purpose. Embodying physical characteristics of a hoofed beast, with a human-like face, this sphinx-like creature is filled with the tension of movement and stillness, a sensually stoic presence embodying attention and power.” Smith’s figurative work references modernist sculpture, including cubism, surrealism, neoclassicism and naturalism.

Smith sculpts figurative works in stone, ceramic, and other hard materials. The use of traditional materials is an intentional tool bridging human experience through the arch of history. With a background in religion and cults, philosophy, and art history, the Artist is concerned with frameworks for approaching truth within the limitations of power structures. Smith lives and practices in Los Angeles. He studied at Biola University in Los Angeles, receiving his BFA in Studio Arts in 2014. He was trained under master stone carver Joanne Duby. He has exhibited in group exhibitions at La Beast, Green Gallery, Prism Gallery, Pasadena City College, and has publicly visible artworks in Los Angeles and Huntington Park.