‘Tree’ was painted in a burst of energy and a feeling of urgency to make the painting with an economy of brush mark unlike many of Smith’s work. The rawness and overt materiality of the painterly marks give way just enough to see a tree emerge through the gaps between thick white paint. The tree is a specific tree which gives shelter at the top of a windy ridge nearby to where Smith is based.

Ruth Helen Smith is an artist based in Devon who paints loosely figurative landscapes often from observation, en plein air. While the works speak of the place and the moment of creation, the paintings act as ‘inner landscapes of the mind’, creating contemplative spaces for the viewer. Philosophical and Art Historical inquiry play an important role in Smith’s practice, as she explores ideas around existence, materiality, and meaning through a thick use of oil paint, colour and tone. Much of her work is imbued with a sense of there being something beyond, just out of sight, that we might glimpse but can feel it looking back.

Ruth Helen Smith (b. 1994) is a Devon-based artist, curator and writer. She studied at The Courtauld Institute of Art, where she gained a BA in History of Art and an MA with Distinction, and at The Heatherley School of Fine Art. She founded Ruth Smith Gallery and its associated Art Residency Programme, and co-founded Red Mud Arts. Her exhibitions include the Ruth Borchard Prize exhibition at Piano Nobile, London, and shows at Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Limekiln Gallery and Vivienne Roberts Projects. Her residencies include painting the construction of Battersea Power Station over a period of more than a year. She also lectures and writes on art history and teaches painting and drawing.