PROFESSOR

BFA, The Tyler School of Art of Temple University
MFA, The Ohio State University

With a background in ceramics, sculpture and painting, Nan Smith has created a tangible sense of the contemplative within her figurative tableaus. Her life scale ceramic figures appear within a context to reflect their inner world through the setting, airbrush paintings and photo decal images. Nan Smith received her BFA from the Tyler School of Art and her MFA from The Ohio State University. She holds degrees in Ikebana and Japanese Tea Ceremony having completed independent studies at the Japan House at the University of Illinois.

Nan Smith has been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts regional award for sculpture sponsored by the Southern Arts Federation, three Florida Individual Artists' Fellowships, and residencies at the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts. Her work is in several major collections in this country and abroad, including the WOCEK International Ceramics Collection housed at the Ichon Ceramics Center, Korea, the American Express/IDS Corporation in Minneapolis and the Lamar Dodd Art Center at the La Grange College.

A Professor of Art at the University of Florida, Nan Smith has exhibited extensively in museums and galleries. Recent exhibitions include: The World Ceramics Exposition, Yeoju, Korea, "Taking Measure: American Ceramic Art at the New Millennium", 2001, RAWSPACE at SOFA Chicago 2004, 21st Century Ceramics in the United States and Canada, Canzani Center Gallery, Columbus College of Art and Design, 2003.

Her sculpture has been featured in chapters within: The Figure in Clay; Contemporary Sculpting Techniques by Master Artists, Suzanne Tourtillott, editor, Lark Publications and A Collection of World Famous Ceramics Art Studio, Bai Ming, editor, IAC Publishers. Images of her work has been included in the following books: "Smashing Glazes", "The Craft and Art of Clay" and "Contemporary Ceramics", author Susan Peterson, "Clay and Glazes for the Potter", authors Daniel Rhodes and Robin Hopper, "Ceramics: Mastering the Craft", author Richard Zakin, "Making Ceramic Sculpture", author Raul Acero, "Resist and Masking Techniques", an AC Black Publication authored by Peter Beard.

Essays about her sculptures have been published in World Sculpture News; Volume 7 Number 2, Spring 2001, "Articulating Consciousness", by Glen R. Brown, The Studio Potter; v.26 No 2, June, 1998, Cover and feature page "Potters of Northern Florida", Ceramics: Art and Perception; Issue 25, 1996, "Feminist Visions in Clay" by Nancy Kapitanoff, Ceramics: Art and Perception; Issue 21, 1995, "Transforming Consciousness: Nan Smith's Spiritual Ceramics", by William Doty and Sculpture; May ‑ June 1994, "Nan Smith" an essay by Donald Kuspit.

She has written technical articles on her work for: Ceramics Technical; No. 11, 2000, "Color, Air, Illusion", The Studio Potter; v.28 No 1, December 1999, "Flexible Mold Making", Ceramics Monthly; "Controlled Drying and Firing", May 2000, Ceramics Monthly; February 1996, "Flexible Molds for Ceramics", and Ceramics Monthly; March 1991, where her work was pictured on the cover and in the article "Blending Intuition and Logic".

Nan Smith was the 2000 University of Florida Research Foundation Professor from the College of Fine Arts. Other university awards include Humanities and Fine Arts Faculty Scholarship Enhancement Fund Awards, 1998 2001, and 2003-2005. She has presented workshops on mold making and airbrush painting techniques for Ceramics throughout the United States. Nan Smith was a conference Demonstrator at the 1999 NCECA Conference and is to serve as a juror for the NCECA Regional Student Juried Exhibition in March of 2006. She has curated a national installation and a national figure sculpture exhibition which were featured during NCECA 2001, Charlotte, North Carolina and NCECA 2005, Baltimore, Maryland.

artist statement
Figurative sculptures set within tableaux reflect my search for serenity and the quiet moments when this inner state becomes apparent. Sculpting the human body and placing it within a context permits me to explore consciousness by mirroring it outwardly. It also reflects my perspective about the universal connectedness within our inner and outer worlds. As a sculptor my intent is to convey a sense of the psychology of the female attribute and intuitive nature. The temporal quality of human existence is an underlying theme implicit in the choice of clay as a sculptural material. Contemplative in nature the sculptures combine sepia toned photo decal imagery with the female figure to picture memory and to indicate a sense of its timelessness.