I create charcoal from unique materials such as money, food, documents and plants. These materials have meanings I can integrate into a drawing or painting. I have developed methods for applying these unconventional charcoals to surfaces. Most of my charcoal pieces are conceptual. Some revolve around pattern or gesture, others are figurative. The materials become a partner in my artistic process.
Many of my oil paintings also explore pattern. I majored in music and am drawn to pattern and variation. My patterns are largely freehand and evolve as I create them. By remaining flexible with my intentions I can decide which elements should move forward.
I also create figurative paintings. These are tethered in the world around us. I build up my paintings with several layers. Many of my marks contain elements from multiple layers. This creates vibration and uncertainty. I like my figurative paintings to hover between the real and the dream. As such, old found photos often provide inspiration. I also paint landscapes related to travel and places.
I was born in Utah where I spent a lot of time looking at mountains and sagebrush. I studied music and biology at Stanford. I also studied in Berlin and then got a law degree. Fortuitously (and inevitably), I discovered art after practicing law for just a few years in Boston and San Francisco. I studied oil painting at the Cambridge Studio School in Boston, and printmaking at City College in San Francisco. I have a studio in Berkeley, California where I also live.
Education
1994 Juris Doctor University of Utah
1989 BA in Music and Biology Stanford University
1999-2001 Cambridge Center Studio School, painting and drawing
2002-2003 City College San Francisco, printmaking
Solo Exhibitions
2024 Turning to Salt, Forest Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2023 As an Arrow, Carl Hansen & Søn, San Francisco, CA
2022 Entanglement, Forest Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2021 Memory Imagined, Moss Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2019 Burn Rate, Gallery 60SIX, San Francisco, CA
2018 American Institute of Architects East Bay Gallery Exhibition, Berkeley, CA
2017 Calorie Project, Gallery 60SIX, San Francisco, CA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 Metamorphosis, Mercury 20, Oakland, CA. Juried by Elena Gross
2024 Left Coast Annual Juried Exhibition, Sanchez Art Center, CA.
Juried by Janna Keegan
2023 Black & White, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA. Juried by James Bacchi
2023 Art & Ecology, O’Hanlon Gallery, Mill Valley, CA. Juried by Obi Kaufmann
2023 Cultural Currency: Contemporary Art from the Riemer Collection, Woodson Art Museum, Wasau, WI
2023 bit by bit, Gallery 60SIX, San Francisco, CA
2023 A New Perspective, O’Hanlon Gallery, Mill Valley, CA. Juried by Orin Carpenter
2022 Night Garden, Gallery 60SIX, San Francisco, CA
2022 Singulart, Stilwerk KantGaragen, Berlin, Germany
2022 Face to Face, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA. Juried by TaVee Lee
2022 Twenty Twenty, Pence Gallery, Davis, CA. Curated by Natalie Nelson
2021 Left Coast Annual Juried Exhibition, Sanchez Art Center, CA.
Juried by Christine Koppes
2021 Annual Juried Exhibition, Piedmont Center for the Arts, Piedmont, CA.
Juried by René de Guzman and Danielle Fox
2021 Hierarchy, GearBox Gallery, Oakland, CA. Juried by Elena Gross
2021 Women Artists Making Their Mark, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA,
Juried by Donna Seager and Suzanne Grey
2021 Blue, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA. Juried by Jen Tough
2021 Imaginary Travel, Artist Alliance Exhibition. Juried by John Yoyogi Fortes
2020 Justice, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, CA.
Juried by Karen Jenkins-Johnson
2020 Fragments, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, CA. Juried by Jen Tough
2020 The Red Wood, virtual exhibition, curated by Julia Westerbeke
2019 Content Matters, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, CA.
Juried by Jack Fischer
2019 All That Glitters, Berkeley Art Center, CA. Juried by Walter Maciel
2018 Y STUDIO, Gallery 60SIX, San Francisco, CA
2017 Fine Lines and Other Fictions, Berkeley Art Center, CA. Juried by Renny Pritikin
2016 Microcosmos, Gallery 621, Benicia, CA. Juried by Chester Arnold
2015 National Juried Drawing Exhibition,
Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, CA. Juried by Jack Fischer
Bibliography
2021 Artists of the Bay Area, Jen Tough
2021 Wild Lands, Jen Tough
2018 “Elemental: The Artwork of Sally K. Smith” Will Duggan, Claremont Journal
Collections
DHR Investment, Riemer Collection, Oakland, CA
Hanjin Shipping Company, Seoul, Korea
University of Utah College of Law, Salt Lake City, Utah
Sandia National Laboratory, Livermore, CA
Seyfarth Shaw, San Francisco, CA
