Holly Cecilia Smith
*Reading, 2001. Lives in Porthtowan and works at Krowji, Redruth.
Holly Cecilia Smith’s practice is an inward, all-consuming attention to the everyday: the spaces we inhabit, move through, and often overlook. Rather than seeking to be loud, the work reflects our presence within place, tracing journeys through environments and the subtle shifts that occur along the way. Walking, travelling alone, hiking, and following trails are central to how she lives and sees; these acts of movement become the foundation of her observation.
Conceptual works emerge through listening, often mistaken for daydreaming, and are made with materials that ask for little deliberation: tape, card, stamps, and stencils. Smith notices rhythms in human behaviour and plays with niche ideas, finding quiet humour in the seriousness of sport, traffic systems, café interiors, and the habitual paths we walk to work. There is an enjoyment in overanalysis, in uncovering the silliness embedded within order and routine.
Alongside this, a painterly language watches carefully. She over-familiarises herself with a landscape, from every angle, until it becomes vivid enough to paint from memory. Drawn to the precise moment where sea and sky meet, pretending, almost convincingly, not to know one another, she paints the quiet drama of the horizon. And then she, too, will go for a quick float.
Education
2015-2020 Marlborough College
GCSE & A-Level.
2020-2023 Ludwig Maximillian Universität
Bachelor, History of Arts.
2023-Now Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe
Klasse Buch, Sculpture.
Exhibitions
2019 Summer Exhibition
Marlborough College, Mount House Gallery. (Group Exhibition)
2020 Virtual Summer Exhibition
Marlborough College. (Group Exhibition)
2022 Silent Running
super+CENTERCOURT, Munich, July 2022. (Curator)
2023 The Most Beautiful Sore Thumb I‘d Ever Seen
Cafe Lozzi, Munich. (Solo Exhibition)
2024 Febreeze (Unadorned)
LuisLeu, Karlsruhe. (Group Exhibition)
2024 Sommer Rundgang
Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe. (Group Exhibition)
2024 Linger in Littleness
Kalinowski Raum, Karlsruhe. (Duo Exhibition)
2025 A Spoonful of Sugar
Teehauschen Fasangarten Karlsruhe. (Group Exhibition)
2025 Sommer Rundgang
Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe. (Group Exhibition)
2025 Sculpture Park/1
Teehauschen Fasangarten Karlsruhe. (Group Exhibition)
2025 Associate Members Winter Exhibition
Penwith Gallery, St. Ives
2025 Jahresaustellung
Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe. (Group Exhibition)
Publications
2020 The Marlburian Magazine
Summer 2020 p. 67.
2023 Staubhaus Magazine
Summer 2023 p. 22.
Work and Internships
2018 Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich
Internship.
2020 Daneshill Prep School, Hook
Art Department Teaching Assistant, Autumn Term.
2020-2025 Helga Matzke European Silver, Munich
Full-Time Employment in the Art Market.
Reaching out
Please reach out if you are interested in the price of any works, if you would like to discuss a commission piece, are interested in working together or have general questions.
Krowji - Studio 218
West Park, Redruth, TR15 3AJ
