Curatorial Statement
Mckenzie Smith melds history and his modern surroundings in vessels that provide a window of slowness. His traditional forms have a foothold in many regions. Perhaps, this is a familiar benefit of being a maker in the twenty-first century?
He honors the rigor of craft with consistent and prolific production. In his rigor he is able to pull from many resources without losing his audience in the melee. The surfaces present cord patterns harkening back to the Jomon Period. Fluid brushwork is reminiscent of the ongoing dialogue between east and west, popularized over many a form in the fifties and sixties. The color palette retains an organic nature, staying true to the Han Dynasty spectrum while, in the same breath, referencing later Germanic offerings. His abstractions bring us to his home in the warm, wet, wilds of Florida with patterns of flora and fauna, carrying our eye around volumes of intentional purpose.
Smith has included just enough sparks of jeweled green and blue to keep a visitor’s eye moving about a gallery dense with pots. Yet somehow, in the face of so much visual information, he invokes quietude. He has created an opportunity to travel through history at our own pace, anchoring us to a present moment.