"Dolls on Beach", 2005 Nylon, cotton, glass and yarn

Adam Parker Smith constructs illustrations of dreams and imagined scenarios. His installations and sculptures are about making small incidents cooler and sexier than they actually are, inserting his own encounters within the idealized sheen of a comic book world. He's interested in the appearance of this combination of real events, daydreams and preexisting narratives as they are translated into stylized entities. His love-based themes synthesize dark thoughts of lust and perverse indulgence with the gushy charm and innocent abandon of the high school crush.

Adam received his undergraduate degree in painting from the University of California at Santa Cruz and his Masters Degree in painting from Tyler School of Art. He has studied in England and Rome. Adam is currently teaching and living in New York City while completing residencies at the Art Alliance, and Chashama Studio Program.

More of Adam's work can be seen at www.adamparkersmith.com

It's 8:00PM Monday and I just got home. We are in the final week of Blue Sky and everybody is frantically preparing for what seems to be shaping up into a fantastic show. Today I went out to the gallery with the six young artists I have had the pleasure of working with this summer. We worked on setting up an installation that is three times larger then I had initially planned for. The reason it became so large is because I underestimated just how productive, enthusiastic, supportive and involved everybody in the program would be. On Saturday, the executive director personally came out and worked on getting the space ready with me all day. When I left the gallery this evening with my group, I took a look at them. They were sweaty, tired and covered in sawdust and dirt. I thought as we pulled out…"there is absolutely no way I could pull this off without these guys!"

Professionally, living together and working so closely with four other artists added to my creative growth this summer. I was especially impacted by sharing studio space with Jeannette and her group. Our styles differed greatly, which brought additional insight, feedback and support to both our groups. I am looking forward to showing the work in New York and then in Cincinnati in 2008.