Gbemi Smart

Gbemi Smart is a self-taught Nigerian artist with an LLB, an MA in international relations, and an LLM in medical law. In 2020, she started painting during the lockdown as some form of escape and she hasn't stopped ever since. Painting for her is an attempt at simplifying the complexity of reality. Painting is the attempt at capturing the human experience, telling stories words somehow seem to diminish,  an attempt at life and all she brings.

Artist Statement

I like to think of my work as an “attempt".  So, each painting is an attempt to represent an accumulation of thoughts. Each painting is an attempt to represent parts of life that are beyond what we physically see, and touch. Each painting is a journey, as I once more, attempt to highlight painfully beautiful realities.

I find that while life is colorful, there are many dreary distractions. In my painting, I eliminate clothing materials and limit objects as my characters often exist within space.

As an artist, my paintings signify both my understanding and reaction to the world I was born into. It is a dialogue between myself and the world.