Smith has had a long and distinguished career. Her work is collected by museums such as the Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI, the Museum fuer Voelkerkunde (Museum of Mankind), Frankfurt, Germany, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England.
In her own words:
“My work and activism have always been about tribe and community. My worldview is that we ‘Give Back’ lovingly when we can and receive graciously when we are in need. The other day I heard Governor Jerry Brown say wisely in an interview that modernity is about two things: individualism and oil. We’ve tried both and neither one works. It’s gotten us into this mess. Everything I write, do or say is about my tribal philosophy, we must care about one another and our living planet. There is no other way if we are to survive.
“I am a cultural arts worker because I not only paint, do printmaking, some sculpture, draw, make collage, and do public art, but I am also an independent teacher/professor and activist. I lecture, teach printmaking workshops, jury, curate, write and organize exhibitions for the Native community. In my work I use humor and satire to present narratives on ethical treatment of animals, humans and our planet. My work is philosophically centered by my strong traditional Salish beliefs.”
Coyote Speaks, 2009
Charcoal, diptych, 22 x 60 inches
Shock and Awe 2011
oil on canvas 72×48
Giving Thanks I 2000
oil on canvas, 60 x 50
Reverence 2004
oil on canvas 72 x 48
Celestial Circle 2004
oil on canvas, 72 x 48
Flathead Dress 1998
oil on canvas, 60 x 50
Fear 2004
oil on canvas, 72 x 48
The King of the Mountain 2005
oil on canvas, 72 x 96 diptych
Imperialism 2011
oil on canvas 72 x 48
The Nature of Things 2011
oil on canvas, 72 x 48
War Horse in Babylon 2005
oil on canvas, 60 x 100 diptych
Trade Canoe- Don Quixote in Sumeria 2005
oil on canvas, 60 x 200 4 panels
The Browning of America 2000
oil on canvas, 36 x 48
Silence Series 2004
watercolor on paper, 30 x 22
I love this work. Every piece here is a world I can enter into — with thoughts and feelings stirred up by the rich colors that move me to feel that tinge of hope/joy in spite of all the sadness of the imagery that is the province of great art — of course there would be sadness in these images, our world is a mess, and what has happened to the First Nations of the world was a mess of the first order. The continued destruction/fading out of so many native languages is another sorrow. Language differences mean mind differences and we are so in need of different minds of all sorts just now. Thanks for this work.
I am very moved by these pieces…my eyes, my heart, my mind..They touch deeply
Thank you