Artist Statement

From the beginning of my career as an artist I have enjoyed portraying humans and animals interacting in gentle cooperation. Now, through ceramics, I am able to represent these emotional attachments to the animal kingdom by intertwining animal figures into human situations. Humans can be animals and have intricate social relationships. These whimsical and often surprising works integrate the human form with everything from rabbits to hippos and paradoxically dinosaurs! Cloning, once only a scientist's dream, and reconstructing existing and extinct animals/hybrids has proved a ceaseless pool of ideas that are rich in imagery. My work aspires to be thoughtful and deep, but always tends to have a humorous layer. Many of the pieces references imagery found in art historical works from ancient cultures to the present.

Dana Smith received her BFA in Sculpture from University of Arizona in 2005. Even as a student her works won awards in both internationally and nationally juried shows. January 2007 she was awarded the Kellogg purchase award at the "Ink and Clay" juried exhibition in Pomona, California and this September recieved a jurors award in the Arizona Designer Craftsmen juried show. Smith's working techniques are atypical - most sculptures are built with a combination of coil, slab and solid building. Her colorful studio is teeming with curious objects ranging from ancient fossils to plastic animals, dinosaurs and human figurines. "When I am surrounded with all of the images that I love, it is absolutely impossible to run out of ideas!"