Kansas Smeaton
Kansas Smeaton is a New Zealand-born artist whose works are influenced by the artist's captivation with the intricate interplay of power, gender, and sexuality.
Biography of Kansas Smeaton
Kansas Smeaton was born in 1992 in New Zealand. She spent her childhood in a liberal-minded community environment in New Zealand, which profoundly influenced her perspective on autonomy, freedom, and self-expression.
In 2020, she obtained a Bachelor of Fine Art degree from The National Art School, in Sydney, Australia. Subsequently, in 2022, she achieved a Graduate Diploma of Fine Art from the National Art School, also located in Sydney, Australia.
The artist has been a finalist for various awards, including the City of Ryde Woman’s Art Prize (2015) and the Waverley Woollahra Art Prize (2020).
Kansas Smeaton's recent solo and two-person exhibitions include "Leisure and Decoration," alongside Emily Galicek, at SIT Gallery in Sydney, Australia (2022), and "Desire" at COMA in Sydney, Australia (2022).
She has also taken part in numerous group shows, including "Landscapes" at Hoff Gallery Space, National Art School, Sydney, Australia (2017); "Ways of Seeing" at Goodspace Gallery in Sydney, Australia (2018); "Sun It Rises" at aMbush Gallery in Sydney, Australia (2019); "Contemporary Ruins" at aMbush Gallery in Sydney, Australia (2021); and "This Oyster is Your World" at COMA in Sydney, Australia (2023).
Currently, Kansas Smeaton libes and works in in Sydney, Australia.
Kansas Smeaton's Art Style
Adopting traditional art historical approaches such as symbolism and portraiture, Smeaton's paintings function as both commentaries on the outdated nature of the gender binary and critiques of Christocentric ideas surrounding sexuality. These works also serve as explorations of these antiquated ideologies by depicting strong individuals who challenge societal norms.
Within her compositions, references to still life, memento mori, and religion are seamlessly integrated with portraits of subjects exuding self-assurance. These portraits are centered on members of the artist's community who lead their lives with authenticity and innovation. Whether they are women advocating for liberation, members of the LGBTI community, sex workers, or individuals who transcend classification, these subjects are not stifled by their gender or sexuality; instead, they ascend beyond, asserting their bodily autonomy, sexuality, and even eroticism.