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ARTIST PROFILE: IAN KINGSFORD-SMITH

December 8, 2020

Ian Kingsford-Smith is an artist based in Sydney, Australia. Ian has studied painting with a number of leading New Zealand painters including Colin McCahon, Michael Smither and Toss Woollaston while living and exhibiting in New Zealand. Moving to Sydney in 2000 Ian continued his art practice with exhibitions  in painting and printmaking in Florence Italy, New York USA, Melbourne, Cairns and Auckland NZ, and as a finalist in the Australian Contemporary Art Award 2016. Ian’s work is represented in private and corporate collections in South Korea, Italy, USA, Sweden, France, Germany, Wales, England, New Zealand and Australia.

What medium(s) do you work with, and why have you chosen them?

I work in a variety of media, from copper etchings, wood engravings to acrylics and oils on wood, to linocuts, Employing such a range of materials gives me the opportunity to realise my vision and bring it vividly to life for the viewer. The choice of medium relates to what is demanded by the artwork itself.

Can you elaborate a little more on your making process — how does your artwork get from initial concept to exhibition stage?

I see myself as a visual storyteller. “In my art practice, history, personal history, memory, family records, ambitions, fantasy, dreams, mythology and spirituality” all combine to create enigmatic narratives. They are detailed but do not tell one explicit story, rather they tap into the viewer’s imagination and evoke a multitude of possible storylines. Each of the artworks evokes a larger story and meaning through an ability of colour, line and scale.

Who or what are the biggest influences to your work?

My professional experience as television presenter, director, producer and interactive TV consultant has had a significant influence on my art practice. In television storytelling sequences of events are selected and constructed with a beginning, middle and end so that the viewer is taken on a journey that will immerse them in the world of the subject. In my art practice, history, personal history, memory, family records, ambitions, fantasy, dreams, mythology and spirituality construct the visual narrative. They are image fragments in a non-linear representation of the subject that is both symbolic and spiritual. As with remembered memory, fact and fiction, these narratives are prone to be distorted, amplified, fragmented, morphed, disjointed, fractured, compressed in time and in juxtaposed locations or countries. 

Each standalone work whether an etching or painting uses this methodology to construct the visual narrative.

How do you keep your creative juices flowing? How do you push past creative block?

My current interest in art spans early cultures including Egyptian, Roman, Medieval period through to German expressionism. My in-depth research and the visiting of museums in particular archaeological museums assist in the initial creative processes. 

What’s next for you after your time at Brunswick Street Gallery? What upcoming projects are you working on now?

Currently I am working on a series of paintings and prints that have been influenced by Egyptian cartonnage and that early Roman statues were initially highly painted and decorated. I have created life-size papier mache heads, moulded male and female hands, etc. These are painted in accordance with the style demanded by my research and drawings and the artworks themselves.  I am now working on a series of drawings that will translate into wood engravings and linocuts. These artworks will be completed for a 2021 exhibition.


Ian Kingsford-Smith’s Wood Engravings is currently exhibited at Brunswick Street Gallery from 4–20 December 2020.

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