Rachel Wolfson Smith

Behavioral Science

January 8th — February 5th, 2022

Rachel Wolfson Smith explores emotional patterns and the turmoil that results from trying to protect ourselves from pain. Dreamlike graphite landscapes playfully connect psychology and science fiction to one’s desires, needs, and defenses. Smith analyzes nature and her own thoughts and actions within the drawings, which over time lead her to unexpected connections. The drawings become artifacts of what Smith calls “the process of processing.”

Rachel Wolfson Smith is an American artist based in Amsterdam, NL. Her large graphite drawings look to the landscape to interpret personal changes experienced over time. Interests in literature, psychology, and painting surface in her drawings, which simultaneously represent and abstract the landscape and the minds of people who live in it. Smith is an alumni of The Contemporary Austin’s Crit Group and 100W Corsicana Artist and Writer Residency. Her work has been exhibited at the Women’s Museum (TX), the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art (CA), and NeueHouse (NY). She is the recipient of grants from The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, The Awesome Foundation, and the City of Austin. Smith received a BFA in painting from MICA and an MFA in painting from Indiana University.