JULIE BROWN SMITH | paintings and relief prints

Artist Statement

Milton Glaser was quoted in the New York Times recently, saying "Everything is related to its opposite."  If you have light, there has to be darkness; truth requires lies; the world we live in is a kind of purgatory.

The darkness and the light; the black and the white.  The truth between the lies.  The space between each of us.  The loneliness in the crowded room.

Contemporary life: what we do in everyday situations and what goes on around us unnoticed as we go through our lives as observers and as the observed, sometimes aware and often oblivious. 

The urban environments of London, New York, and San Francisco: the essence of private moments in public spaces which are familiar to us all.

The Photobooth Series: people caught in an artificial environment, changing poses and personalities in a split second between camera flashes.

The contemporary ruin of our culture today, and its redemption.  The way we see each other.  Look beyond the surface; see yourself.  Common experiences and complex emotions; black and white; the lies between the truth.  The space within; the answers; the crowd in the lonely room.