The house Seton Smith grew up in was an active one. In every possible meaning. Squirrels were making squeaking and scraping sounds in the attic at night, and a colony of bees had found a warm and dry accommodation within the walls, bringing a humming vibration to the interior during day. Other noises and occurrences led some to believe that the house was most certainly haunted by the family members who had passed away under the roof over the years. It was a busy house; full of people and full of life. A dark staircase led to the first floor and halfway up the stairs her father had placed a mirror “to bring in some light to the room”; however, the mirror also had the ability to bring in more unsettling aspects, such as the reflection of passers-by and items around it. Whether real or not, every room and every object in the house had a presence of its own and instilled a variety of emotional reactions.

Smith’s sense of place goes through her entire practice. Alluding to objects and spaces, the artist cleverly uses easy-to-overlook interior details to draw us into her scenes. A mirror, an air conditioning unit, a lampshade highlight the presence of everyday objects and form a cause of reflection; a psychological language between the image and the viewer. Much similar to the personal memories wandering around the house in which she grew up.

In her quest even small identical objects, as in Figures, are given attention. Two indistinguishable model figurines are positioned very carefully, one in front of the other and their non-descript features immediately question the obscurity of the arrangement. Heart Pitcher is another stunningly simple composition where echoes of the silhouette of a water jug are gently imprinted in the background. Again, there is no attempt to give a literal meaning. It is it obvious from the outset that the viewer is invited into a space of reflection through the act of observing.

An illustration of this notion is that Smith in many of her works juxtaposes different kinds of spaces as if they present different realities that exist simultaneously. Chandelier and Dress, Curving Windows and Stairs and Drawings and Painting seem to be proposing a continuity of time and place. They are diptychs in which the pairing of two slightly different frames implies the movement of a viewer like frames in a movie. A disjunctive panorama or migration of objects that are dispersed and out of context.

This element of the visual story-changing as the viewer moves through space, is evoked Chandelier and Dress where perception is really challenged. What is presented are the subtly different perspectives from which to see the same story. Pondering the relationship to the image and physically aligning within it, the viewer realises a personal involvement. This is Smith’s mastery, rooting not only the viewer’s attention to the perception of things, but also the physical stance to the photographs and the moment they are observed.

The use of a shifting vantage point also immediately create perplexity in Curving Windows and Stairs. Although the first part of the title guides to ‘curving windows’ it is contrasted by what is apparent at first glance; a spiral staircase in the right image. Here, the point of view is looking up the stairs, only to be shifted in the left image where the perspective is facing down. What eventually makes out as panes of curved window glass, is initially seen as hazy and obscure light-source. Intentionally, the artist’s adjacent images triggers a race between the intuition of how a staircase should be visually presented and a fired-up brain trying to place it all in a meaningful context.

Smith generally uses a handheld Hasselblad camera and shoots slightly out of focus. Any minute detail that might have appeared in the frame at close range - such as the features of the figures and carving-marks - are disregarded in favour of the soft blend of shadow and light. Her pointing to objects with her camera has built an inventory of images of the otherwise mundane articles of domesticity that furnish any home. In all of this, she reflects on the ways of navigating space and how to deciphers its sensory meaning.

Growing up in an artistic family in New Jersey, Smith was surrounded by a creative mindset from the earliest years. Her mother was an actress and opera singer, and her father, Tony Smith, a pioneering figure in American Minimalism. Owing to the many hours spent assisting in the atelier, he would become an inspiration to both her older sister, Kiki, and Seton herself in their individual future pursuits as artists. Shortly after her MA in photography and art theory from Massachusetts College of Art in Boston in 1979, Smith participated in a local group exhibition, taking her on a path which has progressed over four decades and included almost forty solo shows; one of them an acclaimed solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in ‘88. The city she lives and works today.

Six photographic editions from 2001 - simply titled ‘Editions’ - marked the debut for multiples by Seton Smith and was part of an exclusive collaboration between the artist and Eyestorm. Butterflies, Figures and Heart Pitcher were released in editions of 300 and the three diptychs titled Chandelier and Dress, Curving Windows and Stairs and Drawings and Painting in smaller editions of 200. The high-gloss paper used for printing is unique in that dyes are incorporated into the emulsion on its surface, instead of being formed chemically. This gives exceptional brilliance to the image. Each edition is signed and numbered on verso.

To view the photographic editions in more detail and to find more information about the works, visit Seton Smith’s artist page here.