Nathaniel Kyung Smith
Nathaniel Kyung Smith (b.1990) grew up in a small town in Minnesota. He spent his summers exploring the many bodies of water and forests in the area and doing chores around his parent’s flower shop. The vistas of Lake Superior were especially striking to him where volcanic bluffs, expanses of still, clear water and billowing clouds converged to create landscapes of interlocking shape and color.
Smith’s work explores the human body’s physical and psychological relationship to its natural and built environments. His work is informed by performative and embodied artforms including dance, theater and clown. Smith embodies his practice as a process of personal discovery. He uses traditional materials including oil paint, ceramics and carved stone, historically grounding his work. Smith’s figurative work references modernist sculpture and painting, including cubism, surrealism, neoclassicism and naturalism.
Smith was educated in fine art and Socratic seminar 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 gallery, Green Gallery, Prism Gallery, Pasadena City College, and has publicly visible artworks around Los Angeles.
