…Exhibiting a girl’s natural harmony with the sea, centering around concepts of ritual, repetition and sanctuary…

‘Girl: Float, Breach, Submerge’ is an installation exhibiting a girl’s natural harmony with the sea, centering around concepts of ritual, repetition and sanctuary. Originating as an underwater film, Smith free-dives into amniotic suspension with camera and captures her subject performing sequences as directed, while manipulating in-camera effects of light and focus.

Continuing her evolving process, Smith first sketches her interpretation of film still movements with charcoal. These sketches are then transferred to final outputs, which she cuts and laminates into the three acrylic figures. Each figure encapsulates loose, raw fluorescent pigment, a hue mimicking the singular color captured on film through natural filtering of light and effects of the distance between Smith and her subject while underwater. 

These results represent a culmination of discovery, achieved through multiple iterations of subject, movement, and expression. Exhibited at A+D Museum’s annual Come In! exhibition Les Femmes, 2012.