Yasmin Smith (b. 1984, l. Sydney/Darug Country) works with ceramic and glaze technologies producing large-scale sculptural installations that investigate particular sites via extensive field research, community collaboration and studio development. Her practice brings scientific and artistic concerns together to allow ecological forms of intelligence to be expressed through aesthetic outcomes in ceramic glazes.
The artist researches the history of a site where she collects samples of plant and geological materials. Cast ceramic replicas of plants and plant-related forms are made before burning the original wood to create ash glazes for the sculptures. The colours and textures that emerge in her wood ash glazes reveal what the plant absorbed in its lifetime and through this the ecological and human history of the site—the elements present in the water, soil, and air are absorbed over time and are retained by the plant as a form of memory or archive. Smith also works with rock, coal, salt and wild clay in her expanded material investigations that involve an ongoing conceptual interrogation of labour, extraction, colonisation and political ecology. Smith’s queer identity and (maternal) Sri Lankan heritage underpin her projects, in particular around questions of global power structures and exploitation.
Key exhibitions
- Yasmin Smith: Elemental Life, curated by Jane Devery and Manya Sellers, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2025 – 2025
- Aichi Triennale 2025: A Time Between Ashes and Roses, Creative Director Hoor Al Qasimi, Aichi Arts Centre, Seto City, 2025 (JP)
- Yasmin Smith: Sediment, curated by Kelly McDonald, Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney, 2023
- Rethinking Nature, Museo d’arte contemporanea Donnaregina, Naples (IT)
- Cosmopolis #2.0, curated by Kathryn Weir, Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2019 (FR)
- 21st Biennale of Sydney, curated by Mama Kataoka, Cockatoo Island, 2018
Collections
Artbank
Art Gallery of New South Wales
National Gallery of Australia
Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art
Museum of Contemporary Art Australia
National Gallery of Australia
Powerhouse Museum
Shepparton Art Museum
University of Melbourne