Elynor Smithwick
Elynor Smithwick, born in Albury NSW, is an Australian painter. She completed her Undergraduate (Honours) Degree in Fine Arts at Victorian College of the Arts from 2016 - 2019 in Melbourne, Victoria. In 2019 she received The Buller Arts Residency Award, and The Macfarlane Fund Residency Award in 2020. The last seven years has seen her exhibiting works in solo and group shows. She currently lives in New South Wales, Australia.
Purposefully looking to her own experience, cinema, and the gentle quality of film as her main sources, she explores the idiosyncrasies and subtleties of daily life.
When observing Elynor Smithwick’s artwork, a strong sense of “place” is clearly established. Whether it is a sprawling countryside landscape or the drawn curtains of a window, the prominence of setting is immediately present.
Elynor’s quiet, intimate oil paintings have a nostalgic quality about them – places that you might have been before, or scenes that feel close to home. In her own words, “usually I find my inspiration in small things; looking out windows, going on walks, returning somewhere, closing my eyes.”
Born in 1991, lives and works in Australia, NSW.
EDUCATION
2019
Victorian College of the Arts, Bachelor of Fine Art, Honours
2018
Victorian College of the Arts, Bachelor of Fine Art (Painting)
2015
CAE, Certificate 4 in Visual Art
2014
CAE, Certificate 3 in Visual Art
2009
Albury High School, Year 12
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
Otomys Gallery (Melbourne) Another word for sun
2020
Otomys Gallery (Melbourne) I haven’t seen the moon tonight
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
Flinders Lane Gallery (Melbourne) The Sensual World, Joint exhibition with Lucy Roleff & Jesse Dayan
A K Bellinger Gallery (Inverell) Paintings of our time, Joint exhibition with John Joseph Mitchell
2021
Stockroom Gallery (Kyneton) The Macfarlane Fund Presents, Group show
Jerico Contemporary, (Sydney) Limbs, group show curated by Chloe Borich
2020
Otomys Contemporary, (Melbourne) Smalls, Group show
No Vacancy Gallery, (Melbourne) Sunday Echoes, Joint exhibition with Liam Haley and Mali Taylor
Creative Spaces,(Melbourne) Small Mercies Fundraiser, curated by Tara Gilbee
2019
Victorian College of the Arts, 2019 Graduate exhibition
VCA Artspace, That Place, the Set, Group show, curated by Nadine Christensen & Chris Bond
West Space, (Melbourne) The Process of Making, Group show
2018
Victorian College of the Arts, 2018 Graduate exhibition
VCA Artspace, Proud, Group show
VCA Maddock Space, Orientation painting display
2017
Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Proud, Group show
VCA Artspace Painting show
2016
The Wetlands Studio, (Melbourne) A Room for Improvement, Joint exhibition with Sophia Smithwick
Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Proud
VCA Artspace, Jon Campbell Farewell
Melrose St, (Melbourne) Melrose St, Joint exhibition with Kirby Casilli
Margaret Lawrence Gallery, Australia’s Shame, curated by Sam Harrison
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2022
Art residency in Provence, France, with gallery Amelie Maison d’art
2020
Macfarlane Fund Residency with Stockroom Gallery
2019
Buller Arts Residency Award
2018
The Sydney Canvas Company Painting Prize