Lily Smith

work

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work

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bio

Lily Smith is currently an undergrad student at University of Wisconsin-Stout working towards a BFA in studio art with a concentration in painting. She was raised and has always lived in rural Wisconsin.
Lily is currently an artist in residence through the Bud and Betty Micheels Student Artist in Residence Program and has an upcoming solo show, 'affirmations' in Gallery 209 of UW Stout.

statement

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statement

What does it mean to be a woman? Who decides? It is important to me to focus on what it means to participate in womanhood, and what comes with being ‘feminine’, especially under the guise of a corporatized society. Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex categorizes women as ‘the other’ and men as ‘the default’. This implies femininity and womanhood is learned and not born with, therefore lacking essence, or an ‘eternal feminine’. The act of presenting feminine has always felt grotesque and unnatural to me. It’s important to me to show a niche, maybe ugly, perverted, and unidealized version of female identity. Being a woman is otherwise complex and is much more than a physicality. My work explores these matters.I identify as a woman (whatever that means). I had a ‘traditional’ upbringing, in which I was raised with emphasis on my womanhood over personhood. Traditional implications of womanhood are performative in nature and work to enforce restrictive gender and societal norms. Even with modern day instances of feminism and the evolution of said matters, we are still left with hollow, corporatized version of a woman, based in materialism. Because of the strain placed on these learned roles from childhood, I am often faced with, and fall victim to, extreme imagery such as pornography, advertisements, and social media with expectations that are forced upon on said womanhood.With these memories, I paint stereotypes of femininity and how it relates to my own identity, particularly the ‘performance’ and campy nature of feminine expectations influenced by drag and gender performance. I paint the female figure as their own character that belongs to a particular world, not an object, nor accessory. Overall recontextualizing empowerment with my customized, uncanny, and siren-like characters. The work serves as a means of displacement from corporatized, dull, and ‘girl-boss’ feminism, which is the only type, if any, of representation prevalent in a desolate, rural midwestern setting in which I was raised.

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cv

Education
2021-Present BFA Studio Art-Painting, University of Wisconsin-Stout
2021-Present Deans List Academic Achievement AwardSelected Exhibitions
2025 (upcoming) affirmations, Gallery 209, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI
(upcoming) SAiR Exhibition, Furlong Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI
2024 get whacked, gallery 209, university of Wisconsin-stout, Menomonie, wi
out of balance, Gallery 209, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI
and then i woke up, Gallery 209, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI
Practice of Art Juried Show, Gallery 209, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI
to be a body, Gallery 209, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI
2023 Still, Gallery 209, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI
Spring Juried Exhibition, Furlong Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie WI
2021 Pride at Chestnut, Chestnut Center for the Arts, Invite Only, Marshfield, WI
2020 Just Justice, Colombia Park, Invite Only, Marshfield, WIrelevant Experience
2025 Painting 1 Tutor/Teacher’s Assistant, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI
2022-2024 Furlong Gallery and Stout Student Galleries, Gallery Assistant and Social Media Coordinator, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI
Collectives and Organizations
2024 Night-School Art Collective, Member, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI
2022-Present Fine Arts Association, Member, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WIAwards
2024-2025 Student Artist in Residence, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI
2024 Mikes art and design stipend winner, Menomonie, WiPublications
2025 Arch, senior seminar publication, university of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI
2023 New Stoutonian Paintings Portrait and Narrative Edition, Stoutonia, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, WI