The simple truth is that I make to discover what I do not know.
The second truth is that I strive to make shaky ambiguous things, whose imbalance and openness exemplify my belief in an unstable world. The third truth is that, to me, the things that I make, once constructed, seem out of time, like words spoken softly that hang strangely in the air accruing more meaning the longer they stay aloft.
I know that I must rely on language to easily achieve my daily goals; this however is not done without some degree of animosity. I view language with the specific distain one holds for an unrepentant liar. This is the reason I relish the ambiguous object, which defies a name. Something that is almost this and almost that leads to new places and because it is not this and not that it is a new thing, which exists for a novel instant outside of language.
My hope is that I can make items that have a capacity to act, objects that shimmer with possibility under scrutiny, and things that enhance our perception after our backs have been turned to them.
Education
2013-Present
MFA candidate, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA
2008
BFA, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, OR
Selected Exhibition History (solo shows marked with *)
2015
Let’s Get Lost, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
Summer National Juried Exhibition, MarinMOCA, Novato, CA, curated by Nancy Meyer
The Cult of the Supreme Being-UC Riverside 1st and 2nd Year MFA Exhibition, 1794,
Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA
2014
Object Object!!, Helmuth Projects, San Diego, CA
*base, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA
1st and 2nd year show, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA
Champion is finally unaware, A Clean Poorly Lighted Space, UW-Stout, Menomonie, WI
2013
Locale, Patton-Malott & Gartner Gallery, Anderson Ranch, Snowmass Village, CO
Construct, The Archer Gallery, Clark College, Vancouver, WA
2012
6/one, The White Box. University of Oregon, Portland OR
2011
*soft edge, Manuel Izquierdo Gallery, Pacific NW College of Art, Portland, OR
HoldOn, Gallery Maskara, Mumbai, India
Out of language, two-person exhibition, Linfield College, McMinnville, OR
2010
*Parasite (45.52959,-122.579396), Mp5, Portland, OR
Wrecking Crue, Igloo Gallery, Portland, OR
*Working with doubt, Manuel Izquierdo Gallery, Pacific NW College of Art,
Portland, OR
2009
Third Coast National, K space contemporary, Corpus Christi, TX, curated by Fairfax Dorn
Incompletely, galleryHomeland, Portland, OR
*The righteous foundation of us. Manuel Izquierdo Gallery, Pacific NW College
of Art, Portland, OR
2008
Volume, Worksound, Portland, OR, curated by Jeff Jahn
FWD: Dude's Night Out, galleryHomeland, Portland, OR
OCAC Thesis Exhibition, Worksound, Portland, OR
2007
AC/VC, Audio Cinema, Portland, OR
2006
Sisyphean Systems, Desires and Devices, an exhibition of time-based works traveling to
Georgia, Michigan, Portland, and India
Purposeful Response, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, OR
The Game Show, Contemporary Craft Museum and Gallery, Portland, OR
2005
Stuff, Pacific NW College of Art, Portland, OR
The Drawing Show, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, OR
Teaching Experience
2015
Guest faculty, Painting and Printmaking Department, Anderson Ranch Art Center,
Snowmass Village, CO
2014
Guest faculty, Painting and Printmaking Department, Anderson Ranch Art Center,
Snowmass Village, CO
Guest faculty, Sculpture Department, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Snowmass Village, CO
2010-2011
MFA Mentor, PNCA+OCAC Applied Craft and Design program, Portland, OR
2008-2010
Instructor, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, OR
Instructor, The Wood Workers Guild, Portland, OR
Adjunct Faculty, Art Institute of Portland, Portland, OR
Related Professional Experience
2011-2012
Sculpture studio manager, Georgia State University/ Welsh School of Art, Atlanta, GA
2009-present
Curator, TILT Export:, an independent curatorial project
2008-2011
Sculpture studio manager, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, OR
2006-2008
Director/Co-Curator, Tilt Gallery and Project Space, Portland, OR
2001-2004
Machinist/Fabricator, Purakal Cylinders, Eugene, OR
2001-present
Sole Proprietor of jjfab a Design/Build entity
Awards/Fellowships
2015
Chancellors Distinguished Fellowship, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA
2014
Visiting Artist, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA
Gluck Fellowship University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA
2013
Chancellors Distinguished Fellowship, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA
Gluck Fellowship University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA
2011
Career Opportunity Grant, Oregon Arts Commission, Salem, OR
2010
Sculpture Artist-in-Residence, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, OR
Nominee, The Brink Award, Henry Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
Nominee, Contemporary Northwest Art Awards, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
2009
Sculpture Artist in Residence, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, OR
2008
Professional Development Grant, Regional Arts and Culture Council, Portland, OR
Career Opportunity Grant, Oregon Arts Commission, Salem, OR
2005
Furniture/Wood Merit Scholarship, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Snowmass, CO
Curatorial Projects
2015
TILT Export: Of Silence, Outpost Projects, Joshua Tree, CA
TILT Export: Aftermath, GOCA, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO
2014
TILT Export: Fanatic, Upfor, Portland, OR
2012
TILT Export: Co/Lab, Art Fair at Art Platform-Los Angeles, Barker Hanger, Santa Monica, CA
2011
TILT Export: Imposter, RAID Project, Los Angeles, CA
2009
TILT Export: Kartz Ucci, Rock Creek Community College, Portland, OR
TILT Export: Approximate, galleryHomeland, Portland, OR
2007
TILT Export: In Season, Studio Gallery Linfield College, McMinnville, OR
Minima: The BFA Juried Show, Linfield College, McMinnville, OR
Lectures
2014
Visiting Artist Lecture, UW-Stout, Menomonie, WI
Visiting Artist Lecture, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA
2009
Artist in Residence Lecture, Pacific NW College of Art, Portland, OR
2008
Collaborative Curation, Clark College, Vancouver, WA
2007
Professional Practices in the Arts, Linfield College, McMinnville, OR
Bibliography
“’Never Perfect, Never Done, Never Resolved’: An Interview with Karl Burkheimer”, 2014,
Drain: Ruin-Vol. 11:2
“Making awareness: an interview with Joshua West Smith”, 2014, Drain: Molecular – Vol. 11:1
“Small works in ‘Object Object!!’ pack a collective punch”, Nov 24,2014, San Diego City Beat
"Long View", Nayantara Kilachand, August 3, 2011, Mumbai Boss
"Artistic take on things in a state of flux", Niha Masih, August 4, 2011, The Sunday Guardian
"Doing your bit", Vishwas Kulkarni, May 29, 2011, Mumbai Mirror
"Ply the wood", Richard Speer, April 14, 2010, The Willamette Week Issue 36.23
"Elements of Design, An Abridged Table of Portland Furniture Makers", Lisa Radon, Summer
2009, Portland Spaces Magazine
"Josh Smith at PNCA", Jeff Jahn, February 13, 2009, PORT. www.portlandart.net
"Smith Tilts to Sculpture", Brian Libby, February 19, 2009, The Oregonian
First Thursday Critic's Pick", DK Row, February 4, 2009, The Oregonian
"Josh Smith, Oregon College of Art and Craft", ArtBeat, Oregon Public Broadcasting,
interview by K.C. Cowen