When shaped by memory and imagination, ordinary spaces can become extraordinary; reflecting a fluid relationship between place, perception and experience.
Designed from memory, observation, and imagination, my paintings depict dreamlike architectural spaces shaped by recollection and emotional atmosphere. Through geometry, saturated color, and shifting light, familiar structures dissolve into liminal landscapes. These environments transform ordinary places into luminous, heightened spaces that reflect how memory alters our perception of the built world.
Across my practice, memory and improvisation guide the painting process. Beginning with a recalled image or fragment of place, I construct spatial relationships through layered color, texture, and surface. Paint itself becomes a structural element, shaping environments that evoke psychological and social dimensions of place.
My current series, Open Skate, expands this investigation into figuration and movement. Inspired by South Florida’s roller-skating community, these paintings integrate bodies in motion with the architectural and chromatic environments that have long defined my work. Through saturated color, geometry, and rhythm, the series reflects the freedom, inclusivity, and collective energy found within this vibrant culture, while continuing my broader exploration of how social spaces shape identity and experience.
Bio
Carmen Smith (b. 1977) in Jacksonville, Florida lives and works in Hollywood, Florida. Smith received a B.F.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Richmond, VA, where she was awarded the Academic and Creative Excellence Award (2005). Smith is currently a M.F.A. Painting Candidate at Savannah College of Art and Design. Smith is known for her brightly colored paintings of South Florida architectural imagery. Selected Solo exhibitions include “Night Swimming," 2021, at Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville, Virginia; “Rushing Down,” 2022, at Coral Springs Museum of Art in Coral Springs, Florida; and “Color Pools,” 2024, at Imago Por Las Artes in South Miami, Florida. Selected group exhibitions include the 8th Annual All-Media Juried Biennial, 2017, Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, Hollywood, Florida; Frank Contemporaries, 2022, The Frank C. Ortis Gallery, Pembroke Pines Florida; and BFA Broward's Art & Somm, Mad Arts Museum, 2025, Hollywood, Florida. Smith was a recipient of the Broward Cultural Division Individual Artist Grant, 2024. Her work is in the permanent collection of RSM US headquarters at the Main in Las Olas in Ft. Lauderdale as well as many private collectors in the US and Colombia. She is a member of the Bakehouse Art Complex and the SOBRA Collective.