Artist

Dean Smith is an artist and ceramist specialising in special effect high-fire glazes combined with low-fire enamels and precious metal lustres.

Smith was born in Brisbane in 1971 where he lived for only three months before his family returned to their home in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Smith has Māori ancestry through his father, and his great, great, great grandmother Raiha Tamaihana was a member of the Ngati Toa tribe, the Marae of which is situated near Kaikoura in the South Island. Growing up in Opononi, New Zealand in a country farmhouse situated between the forest and the ocean instilled in Smith a special connection with nature which carries through into his ceramic art today.

Smith's practice is concerned with translating the sensory experience of nature into clay, drawing from the landscapes of Aotearoa New Zealand and Victoria, Australia, both imagined and real. His wheel-worked and hand-built sculptures formed of coarse stoneware and porcelain convey a sense of exchange and curiosity between the ceramic body and the observer.

Smith currently lives in the Latrobe Valley of Victoria where the raw post-mining landscape and natural bush surrounds have a strong influence on his work. 

Smith has undertaken artist’s residencies in Taiwan, Denmark and Poland and has been recognised in several major awards, including winning the Premier’s Award for Excellence, sponsored by the Department of Premier and Cabinet of Tasmania in 2010; the Clunes National Ceramic Award, Clunes, Victoria in 2013; and, the Vase Finder International at its 9th Annual Exhibition in the USA in 2014. Smith was also awarded Silver at the Taiwan Ceramics Biennale at the Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan in 2012 and Special Citation at the 8th Cheongju International Craft Competition, South Korea in 2013.

In 2018 Smith undertook a studio residency at Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Centre in Skælskør, Denmark during which time Smith developed a hyper-localised body of new work that explored geological processes of the area, focusing specifically on ideas of creation, eradication and impermanence in relation to the white cliffs of Møns Klint, located on the island of Møn which is part of Sydsjælland (South Zealand). In 2019 Smith presented a solo exhibition of work created during his residency at Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne and his work was also presented in National Treasures at The Vivian Gallery, Matakana, New Zealand.

In 2022 Smith presented two important solo exhibitions, 'In Tarra-Bulga' at the Latrobe Regional Gallery, Morwell, Victoria, and 'Between Dawn and Dusk' at the Castlemaine Art Gallery, Castlemaine, Victoria. In 2023 Smith was represented by Alcaston Gallery at Sydney Contemporary 2023 and he presented a new body of work in the Alcaston Gallery group exhibition, 'Clay'.

© The Artist and Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne 2023