Nucleus III: Mechanism (2024)
Joseph King-Smith Joseph King-Smith

Nucleus III: Mechanism (2024)

100 × 100 cm

Acrylic on canvas

Here is the third painting in my Nucleus series and the culmination of around 4 months of planning, drawing, painting and digital image optimisation. Motifs which appear frequently in my paintings are present here alongside newer shapes inspired by objects I see everyday. It follows a recurring theme in my work of the dichotomy between artificial and organic form. Colours are mixed completely and applied to the canvas without streaks or any hint of their component parts, always with a varying degree of Mars Black.

Read More
Nucleus II: Shades of Champfreau (2022)
Joseph King-Smith Joseph King-Smith

Nucleus II: Shades of Champfreau (2022)

100 x 100 cm

Acrylic on canvas

This; the second in my Nucleus series of paintings, uses combinations of form and colour inspired by the area of France I was staying in at the time (a village about 12km from Saumur called Varennes-sur-Loire). The blues in the centre are reminiscent of the conical slate turret rooves on grand local buildings. The paler colours towards the outside edge symbolise the Tuffeau limestone used in the construction of almost every building in the region.

Read More
Nucleus (2022)
Joseph King-Smith Joseph King-Smith

Nucleus (2022)

100 x 100 cm

Acrylic on canvas

This piece was unveiled at Studio Kind, Braunton as part of the Unit 6 Takeover which ran from 10th - 23rd September 2022. I finished it just hours before having to drop it off at the gallery for hanging.

Symbolism, abstraction and particular colour blends tangle from the outside-in, the central glow being the crucible from which new forms emerge.

The symbols are largely inspired by the plight of the ordinary Ukrainian people affected by the ongoing war in their country.

Read More
Machines In Nature (2021)
Joseph King-Smith Joseph King-Smith

Machines In Nature (2021)

40.64 x 40.64 x 3.81 cm

Acrylic on cradled wooden panel

The contrast of ‘machine’ (any we use) and the natural world is a constant source of inspiration for me. The juxtaposition of artificial and organic and the desire to bring these two aesthetics closer together with design is an ongoing struggle of humanity. This painting combines artificial and organic symbolism and attempts to represent that struggle visually.

Read More
Midnight Run (2022)
Joseph King-Smith Joseph King-Smith

Midnight Run (2022)

20.32 x 20.32 x 3.81 cm

Acrylic on cradled wooden panel

A painting that took me several attempts to get right.

Street lights, the electric colouring of early-summer plant life illuminated by those lights and shadows around buildings all came to mind for me when working on this.

Read More
Town Noir (2021)
Joseph King-Smith Joseph King-Smith

Town Noir (2021)

20.32 x 20.32 x 3.81 cm

Acrylic on cradled wooden panel

Read More
Crops (2021)
Joseph King-Smith Joseph King-Smith

Crops (2021)

20.32 x 20.32 x 3.81 cm

Acrylic on cradled wooden panel

The shapes and colours here borrow heavily from those of late summer/early autumn or nearing harvest time (around when I started work on this, along with other paintings).

Read More
Reflections (2021)
Joseph King-Smith Joseph King-Smith

Reflections (2021)

20.32 x 20.32 x 3.81 cm

Acrylic on cradled wooden panel

This piece is my interpretation of the phenomenon of reflection, either physical or as a thought process in the human mind, the often sharp forms representing fragments of broken glass or part-memories.

This continues my exploration into more expressive, abstract territories and my increasing use of psychic automatism as a form of mark-making.

Read More