Dee Smart
Artist Statement
Painting directly from life, Dee’s dynamic yet intimate portraits peel away the amour of the modern world to reveal the truth, vulnerabilities and inherent strength of the sitter. In an act of defiance, Smart reimagines powerful women to challenge the prevailing narrative of women as passive objects of desire, instead casting them as a sovereign agent of change and transformation. Echoes of luminaries such as Audre Lorde and Bell Hooks reverberate through Smart’s work, guiding us through the labyrinthine corridors of identity and resistance.
Biography
Dee Smart is an Australian figurative realist artist. Dee originally studied dance and theatre at the Victorian College of Arts. She had a successful career in film, television and on the stage. After her first child, Smart began pursuing visual arts where a passion for life drawing led her to a career in painting.
In 2017 and 2018, Smart was selected as a finalist in the Archibald Prize. She has also been a finalist in the Paddington Art Prize and multiple time finalist of the Portia Geach Memorial Award (Australia’s most important art prize for portraiture by women artists.
Frida, 2024
Gouache on Paper, 25 1/5” x 17 18/25"