Original artwork by SMILIE (@smi.lieeee)
2024, Mixed Media on canvas
12 x 16 x 1 inches
In her latest body of work, Fast Thoughts, artist Smilie explores the complexities of ego, power, and self-perception through a series of text-based works that are both confrontational and introspective. Working primarily in black and white, each piece pairs bold, declarative language with heavily textured, dripping surfaces, creating compositions that feel at once controlled and unstable.
Rather than offering resolution, Smilie’s phrases hold tension. Statements such as I AM NOTHING and I am not enough, I am everything reflect the contradictions embedded in internal dialogue—where self-doubt and self-belief exist simultaneously. These works move between critique and confession, shaped as much by personal reckoning as by broader societal pressures.
Material plays a critical role. Built through poured and manipulated acrylic, the surfaces crack, slip, and settle over time, allowing gravity and process to participate in the final form. In works like I AM NOTHING, the physical weight of the piece—suspended, irregular, and substantial—mirrors the emotional weight of the language it carries.
While Smilie’s work engages with structures of power, including the expectations placed on women, it ultimately turns inward. Fast Thoughts becomes a study of how identity is shaped, challenged, and rewritten through language—how what is repeated begins to take hold.
In this way, the exhibition is not a fixed statement, but an active space of confrontation. Each work asks the viewer to sit with the words presented, to question their authority, and to consider the narratives they carry within themselves.
Original artwork by SMILIE (@smi.lieeee)
2024, Mixed Media on canvas
12 x 16 x 1 inches
In her latest body of work, Fast Thoughts, artist Smilie explores the complexities of ego, power, and self-perception through a series of text-based works that are both confrontational and introspective. Working primarily in black and white, each piece pairs bold, declarative language with heavily textured, dripping surfaces, creating compositions that feel at once controlled and unstable.
Rather than offering resolution, Smilie’s phrases hold tension. Statements such as I AM NOTHING and I am not enough, I am everything reflect the contradictions embedded in internal dialogue—where self-doubt and self-belief exist simultaneously. These works move between critique and confession, shaped as much by personal reckoning as by broader societal pressures.
Material plays a critical role. Built through poured and manipulated acrylic, the surfaces crack, slip, and settle over time, allowing gravity and process to participate in the final form. In works like I AM NOTHING, the physical weight of the piece—suspended, irregular, and substantial—mirrors the emotional weight of the language it carries.
While Smilie’s work engages with structures of power, including the expectations placed on women, it ultimately turns inward. Fast Thoughts becomes a study of how identity is shaped, challenged, and rewritten through language—how what is repeated begins to take hold.
In this way, the exhibition is not a fixed statement, but an active space of confrontation. Each work asks the viewer to sit with the words presented, to question their authority, and to consider the narratives they carry within themselves.
Image 1 of 5
Image 2 of 5
Image 3 of 5
Image 4 of 5
Image 5 of 5