Nathaniel Kyung Smith

Overview
Nathaniel Kyung Smith
Nathaniel Kyung Smith (b. 1990) grew up in a rural part of Minnesota. He spent his summers exploring the many bodies of water and forests in the area, as well as performing chores around his parent’s flower shop. The vistas of Lake Superior were especially striking to him where volcanic bluffs, expanses of still, clear water and billowing clouds converged to create landscapes of interlocking color and shape.
 
Smith embodies his practice as a process of personal discovery, his works exploring the human body’s psychological and spiritual relationship to both natural and built environments. His work is historically grounded in its use of traditional materials including carved stone, ceramics and oil paint. His work is informed and expanded by the performative and embodied artforms of dance and theater. Smith’s figurative work references modernist sculpture and painting: cubism, surrealism, neoclassicism and naturalism.

He was educated in fine art and Socratic Seminar at Biola University in Los Angeles, receiving his BFA in Studio Arts in 2014. He has exhibited in group exhibitions at La Beast, Green Gallery, Prism Gallery, Pasadena City College, and has publicly visible artworks around Los Angeles.
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Works
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, Leaning Visage
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    Leaning Visage
    Carved marble
    12.5 x 8 x 11.5 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, Shout It from the Rooftops
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    Shout It from the Rooftops
    Carved Marble
    21 x 10 x 7 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, You Turn Me Right Round
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    You Turn Me Right Round
    Carved Marble
    7 x 7.5 x 21 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, Courage on Its Own Is Not Enough
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    Courage on Its Own Is Not Enough
    Carved marble
    7 x 7 x 21 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, Formation
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    Formation
    Ceramic
    8.5 x 6 x 3 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, To the Victor Go the Spoils
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    To the Victor Go the Spoils
    Carved redstone
    11 x 18 x 4 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, Moonrise
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    Moonrise
    Ceramic
    11.5 x 5 x 3 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, Rebirth
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    Rebirth
    Ceramic
    12.5 x 9 x 9 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, Hat and Fappy
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    Hat and Fappy
    Alabaster Stone
    10.5 x 13 x 10 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, Springtime
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    Springtime
    Ceramic
    9 x 9 x 3 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, The Performer
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    The Performer
    Oil on Canvas
    24 x 20 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, Vision
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    Vision
    Oil on Canvas
    35 x 30 x 1.5 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, Six Seven
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    Six Seven
    Carved marble
    10 x 7 x 21 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, Window Tableau
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    Window Tableau
    Oil on Canvas
    36 x 24 x 2.5 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, Contingency
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    Contingency
    Oil on canvas
    30 x 36 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, Attention
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    Attention
    Oil on Canvas
    35 x 30 x 1.5 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, Awareness
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    Awareness
    Oil on Canvas
    35 x 30 x 1.5 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, By The Sea
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    By The Sea
    Oil on Canvas
    20 x 16 x 1.5 inches
  • Nathaniel Kyung Smith, Lost In Thought
    Nathaniel Kyung Smith
    Lost In Thought
    Oil on Canvas
    35 x 30 x 1.5 inches
Exhibitions
Events
News
Bibliography
Nathaniel Kyung Smith

2024 - Paintings, Reorientation of the Earth group show, La Beast Gallery, Los Angeles,
CA
2023 - Guardian / Messenger, Chimera group show, La Beast Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023 - Neoclassical Head, New Works group show, Zara Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019 - The Alameda Pass, laser cut steel tryptic, Public Art commission for the city of
Huntington Park, CA
2019 - Contingency, painting group show at Boone Gallery, Pasadena, CA
2015 - Semaphores of Light, interactive sculptural installation, group show at Prism
Gallery, Pasadena, CA
2014 - Semaphores of Light, interactive sculptural installation at Green Gallery, La
Mirada, CA
2014 - Bachelor of Fine Arts, Studio Arts from Biola University, La Mirada