Meet the Artist

I'm Tanya Smith, an artist and photographer who has never been able to walk past a rusted, broken gate, a crumbling wall or a pile of discarded fabric without noticing.

I've spent years finding beauty in things most people overlook. Weathered surfaces, peeling paint, worn edges, abandoned places, old fabric: evidence that something has been used, changed or left behind.

Sometimes I photograph it. Sometimes I bring it back to the studio.

Whatever the medium, I keep returning to the same things: texture, imperfection, quiet details and the evidence of time and use. I'm interested in what happens when you stop and look at something that might otherwise be passed over.

Different materials. Same eye.

The work is meant to be lived with and looked at again and again. To notice a texture, a mark or a small imperfection you hadn't seen before. To find something beautiful in what has been worn, weathered or overlooked.

I live and work in Niagara, Ontario Canada

~t