I’ve not seen the show Shinique Smith:Firsthand — at LACMA through mid-July — and probably won’t make it to LA before it closes, but this work stopped me in my tracks. It feels like the convergence of old and new, random and designed, structured and soft — all at the same time.
This sculpture reminds me of so many things I love (texture, clothing, form, painting, organization, pattern) which, on the surface, don’t really seem related. But when I look at the sculpture, I’m reminded that these things are related — and it’s my job as an artist, to figure out how.
Shinique Smith, "Swaying Beauty"