BIO
Jessica Krause Smith is a New York City-based multidisciplinary artist whose work explores the intersection of intuition, reaction, memory and materiality. She earned her Studio Art degree (Painting and Graphic Design) from Skidmore College, graduating with honors in 1997. Her work has been exhibited widely, including at IFAC Arts NYC, Walter Wickiser Gallery, LIC Arts, and Sotheby’s, among others. Her paintings are part of the permanent collection at the Tang Museum and numerous private collections across the U.S.
In addition to her painting practice, Krause Smith has an extensive background as an art director and graphic designer, collaborating with major global brands. She maintains her studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and lives in Williamsburg, NYC.
STATEMENT
My visual language is rooted in abstraction and shaped by intuition, reaction, memory and materiality. I explore the interplay between chance and intention, responding to internal energy, surroundings, reflections, discoveries, and visual stimuli—pulling from my subconscious in an ever-shifting relationship.
A central theme in my work is a fascination with the workings of the world and its dualities as they manifest in contrasts: spontaneity and structure, wildness and control, dark and light, chaos and harmony. I am interested in how these polarities are essential to the cycles, rhythms and complexities of nature, psychology and human existence. My inspirations and compositions draw from a vast range of influences—my personal history, lived experiences and my dreams—as well as from the environments and visual experiences in which I navigate: city streets to the ocean, woods to skyscrapers, design to street art, crowds to solitude, music to fashion, advertising to poetry, motherhood and relationships. Art allows me to process and merge these influences, transforming them into work that feels both personal and universal.
My painting process is physical and expressive, embracing live painting and gestural mark-making. I work in layers, painting either over the course of weeks or months or in a rapid session. My materials combine acrylics, latex house paint, spray paint, dried paint fragments, oil stick marks, and found materials such as glitter, industrial plastics, and torn paper. Intentional and accidental marks alike become integral components, often revealing unexpected epiphanies and metaphors. I embrace risk and instinct, experimenting with washes, drips, and memory-driven forms to build dynamic compositions. My drawings extend this visual language into different mediums, maintaining the same aesthetic principles, while my photography grasps a similar spirit. In a more photojournalistic style, I aim to capture inspiring moments, ephemeral, poignant situations or striking aesthetics as I see them, combining eye for the sublime and composition with chance and speed.
My work reflects perceptions, evokes mystery, and invites interpretation, allowing the viewer space for ambiguity, exploration, and sensory engagement. It is a contemplative outlet – embodying visceral human energy, visual poetry and a rejuvenating aesthetic – born and refracting from both my personal and our shared human experience, shaped by thoughts, emotions and my subconscious mind.