“The studio in the Gallerie Raskolnikoff in Dresden, daily visits to The Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister and working with Grafikwerkstatt provided unique studio research opportunities. Additionally, the creative community of residency alumni connected me with Melissa Vogley-Woods and Elisabeth Gerdemann to work on a collaborative international project that addresses the immigrant and refugee crisis.”
Artist Information
Stockton University Assistant Professor in Visual Arts Mariana Smith received a BFA in fine art and miniature painting from Moscow College of Applied and Industrial Arts in Moscow, Russia. After immigrating to the USA in 1992, she received a BFA with an emphasis in printmaking from the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus OH, and an MFA from the Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.
In her studio, Mariana Smith combines printmaking, miniature painting, and mixed media installations to address the nature of immigrant dislocations and the unrealized dream of a homeland.
Smith’s work has been exhibited in USA, UK, Italy, Germany, Russia, China, Ireland, New Zealand, Guam, and Armenia, and was displayed at the State of Ohio Governor’s Mansion in Columbus, Ohio. Her works are included in a number of private collections and in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the UK, Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, OH, Kennesaw State University, GA, Dishman Art Museum, Beaumont, TX, and Xi’an Fine Art Academy, China.Currently, she is collaborating with the multimedia artists and scholars from the USA, Armenia, Germany, and Greece on a series of international exhibitions and lectures connecting contemporary art and the global migrant and refugee crisis.