Kiki Smith Hon RA (b. 1954)

American artist Kiki Smith (b. 1954, Nuremberg) is recognised for her multidisciplinary practice through which she explores the human condition. The body, mortality, regeneration, gender politics, as well as the interconnection of spirituality and the natural world are observed through a postmodern lens. Her expansive practice resonates personally and universally, manifesting in sculpture, glassmaking, printmaking, watercolour, photography, and textile, among other production methods. Drawn to the cogency of repetition in narratives and symbolic representations, much of Smith’s work is inspired by the visual culture of the past, spanning scientific anatomical renderings from the 18th century to the abject imagery of relics, memento mori, folklore, mythology, Byzantine iconography, and medieval altarpieces.