Dee Smart

Suspended Embrace

29 September — 15 October 2022

Lives and works in Sydney

View profile

Represented by nanda\hobbs

Throughout history humans have been fascinated by the ocean and the mysteries of what lies beneath. The fantastical stories of sea monsters, mermaids and other strange aquatic creatures still entertain us today and have been a popular subject of art, literature and film. Dee Smart’s fascination with the underwater marine environment started when she was a young girl. She spent many happy summers with her siblings and childhood companions exploring the Aldinga Reef, 40 kilometres south of Adelaide. ‘I loved the coast line it’s a place where I spent many dreamy hours looking into rock pools, spotting crabs, shark eggs, jelly fish, squid and many more things.’ She remembers squealing hysterically while getting covered in black ink after pulling an angry squid from the water. Now an adult with a children of her own, these wonderful memories have given Smart a unique pictorial language to draw from.

After staring death in the face, Dee Smart a courageous survivor, was contemplating life as she waded through the shallow waters of Culburra beach located on the south coast of NSW. It was here she rekindled her fascination with the complex ecosystem she observed under the shallow water. Thinking how vital the ocean is for the survival of our species, she reflected on her own mortality and was gripped by the fragments of this experience so vividly and forcefully that it restored her sense of what it is to be human. She says, ‘I was watching the water ebb and flow over the rocks and could see the small marine life under the water—it reminded me of my happy childhood memories and I really felt alive again’. This epiphany led her to her studio where she picked up a watercolour brush needing to emulate the subtle fluidity of the water as it lapped over the rocks and seaweed.

Smart began producing a series of exquisite watercolours using delicate controlled brushstrokes absorbing realism into a level of abstraction. There is an element of chance and randomness but this is used very carefully. She has given each subject a sober personality, soothing and peaceful faces stare at you wishing to communicate, there is much in these works to explore.

Dee Smart is a very gifted artist with immense talent; however, her creativity cannot be bound by the limitations of one genre. She understands that freedom is the enemy of creativity which is why in this series of watercolours she has limited herself to the crab and the squid. Pictures of course are surrogates for experience which is why these works are so interesting. Smart has the experience and proves that the only true teacher is nature.

Ken McGregor, 2022

DEE SMART_SUSPENDED EMBRACE_NANDA HOBBS from Stu Spence on Vimeo.

\ Exhibition featured works

Dee Smart

A Moment of Lifetimes

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches paper \ 124 x 100cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

Alone Ranger

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches paper \ 104 x 66cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

Beastie Boy

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 77 x 57cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

Blue Crush

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 77 x 57cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

Crab I

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 56 x 50cm

Dee Smart

Crab II

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 56 x 50cm

Dee Smart

Crab III

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 56 x 50cm

SOLD Sold

Dee Smart

Crab IV

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 56 x 50cm

HOLD

Dee Smart

Crush Into Me

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches paper \ 103 x 66cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

Electric You

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 77 x 57cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

For you the sun will shine

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 77 x 57cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

I Move Through You

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 77 x 57cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

I Saw You Through the Sunshine

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches paper \ 115 x 91cm

Dee Smart

I See You I Feel You

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches paper \ 114 x 114cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

I want you to know who I am

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 77 x 57cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

In your eyes

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 77 x 57cm

Dee Smart

Just say yes

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 77 x 57cm

HOLD

Dee Smart

Large two channel vessel

2022 Dee Smart & Agatha Pupaher \ Stoneware with porcelain slip, cobalt oxide underglaze, kasugi gold \ 59 x 31cm

Dee Smart

Let's Taste It

2022 \ Watercolour and collage on Arches Paper \ 77 x 57cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

Love on top

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 77 x 57cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

Our Spirits are Kindred

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 102 x 66cm

Dee Smart

Small bowl

2022 Dee Smart & Agatha Pupaher \ Stoneware with porcelain slip,cobalt oxide underglaze \ 14.5 x 16cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

Suspended Embrace

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches paper \ 91 x 115cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

Tall vessel

2022 Dee Smart & Agatha Pupaher \ Stoneware with porcelain slip,cobalt oxide underglaze \ 50 x 26cm

Dee Smart

Two bowl vessel

2022 Dee Smart & Agatha Pupaher \ Stoneware with porcelain slip,cobalt oxide underglaze \ 18.5 x 25 x 16cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

Two channel small vessel

2022 Dee Smart & Agatha Pupaher \ Stoneware with porcelain slip,cobalt oxide underglaze \ 16 x 19cm

Dee Smart

Two channel vessel

2022 Dee Smart & Agatha Pupaher \ Stoneware with porcelain slip, cobalt oxide underglaze, kasugi gold \ 50 x 34 x 27cm

Dee Smart

When I'm with you

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 77 x 57cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

Yin to my yang

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 77 x 57cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

You Are My Air

2022 \ Watercolour and collage on Arches Paper \ 77 x 57cm

SOLD

Dee Smart

You Turn Me Upside Down

2022 \ Watercolour on Arches Paper \ 77 x 57cm

\ Other exhibitions

Hubert Pareroultja

"When the rain tumbles down in july"

21 March — 6 April 2024

PEOPLE,

Group Exhibition

29 February — 16 March 2024

Jonathan Dalton

MELBOURNE ART FAIR

22 February — 25 February 2024

Contact Us

to find out more about Suspended Embrace.

12 - 14 Meagher Street Chippendale, NSW 2008
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday, 9.00am - 5.30pm Saturday, 11am - 4pm Closed Public Holidays (and Easter Saturday)