online exhibition:
Carrie Mae Smith
Summer Oysters
August 12 - September 9, 2023
Carrie Mae Smith
Two Oyster Shells and Lemon Wedge, 2023
Oil on panel
8 x 10 in / 20.3 x 25.4 cm
(CS-174)
Lowell Ryan Projects is pleased to present an online exhibition titled Summer Oysters comprised of thirteen new intimate paintings by Upstate New York-based artist Carrie Mae Smith. These sumptuous works explore Smith’s interest in the power of food’s ability to connect us to place and memory.
“I was introduced to oysters on Martha’s Vineyard. I went there to work a summer job my first year after college. I worked on organic farms learning self-reliance, the importance of small-scale farming, and the cultivation of local foods. For a short time, I rented a room from a local fisherman, Captain Tom, aka “The Codfather.” He was a great friend and supporter of wayward twenty-somethings and local farmers. Generous with his catch, he kept 5-gallon buckets of oysters in cold storage around his house. Oysters were plentiful at every dinner gathering, which were frequent.
Gatherings brought together young folks that made their way to the island from all over, sometimes travelers that stayed on and found work for a while and some who stayed for years. Dinners regularly featured foods that were grown and harvested that same day. “We may be poor, but we eat like kings” was the reigning sentiment. Tom provided a space for us young newcomers on the island to build community and make connections to the land and sea around us. This experience led me to work as a private chef where I could use locally grown ingredients to connect others to the health and pleasures of the surrounding fields and waters.
Although I don’t remember eating my first oyster, one of my favorite island experiences is to go “up-island” to Menemsha, a small fishing village, and eat oysters with friends alongside the docks where larger fishing boats like the “Unicorn” and the “Quitsa Strider II” were tied up. Sitting beside these boats looking down at the deep dark harbor water and watching the reflected light dance along the ship’s hulls, breathing in the fishy air, and tasting the salty brine and soft, slippery oyster bodies from their shells reminds me of the freedoms gained there as a young person and the wild possibilities of the sea.”
- Carrie Mae Smith
Carrie Mae Smith (b. 1974, Derby, CT) lives and works in Upstate New York. Smith’s paintings are often depictions of items from a particular museum, acquired from local estate sales, or ingredients that she herself will cook. Influenced by her life in the Northeastern United States, including having worked as a private chef on Martha’s Vineyard, Smith’s works serve as symbols of class, labor, friendship, tradition, love, and utility. Smith has received numerous awards and grants including the Clowes Fellowship Full Scholarship, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT; Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Inc. Artist Grant; and the Ruth and Harold Chenven Foundation, Artist Grant. She has exhibited her work internationally and nationally, with recent solo exhibitions at, Lowell Ryan Projects, Los Angeles, CA; the Locust Grove Estate, Poughkeepsie, NY; and The Berman Museum, Collegeville, PA. Carrie Mae Smith holds an MFA in Visual Arts from the University of Delaware (2013) and currently serves on the faculty at SUNY Oneonta.
Inquire: HERE
Carrie Mae Smith
Long Point, 2023
Oil on Mylar mounted on panel
9 x 12 in / 22.9 x 30.5 cm
(CS-183)
Carrie Mae Smith
Oyster and Lemon Wedge, 2023
Oil on panel
7 x 8 in / 17.8 x 20.3 cm
(CS-175)
Carrie Mae Smith
Great Pond Oysters, 2023
Oil on panel
8 x 10 in / 20.3 x 25.4 cm
(CS-178)
Carrie Mae Smith’s studio in Gilbertsville, NY, 2023
Carrie Mae Smith
Three Oyster Forks, 2023
Oil on panel
10 x 10 in / 25.4 x 25.4 cm
(CS-179)
Carrie Mae Smith
Great Pond Oyster and Lemon Wedge, 2023
Oil on panel
10 x 12 in / 25.4 x 30.5 cm
(CS-180)
Carrie Mae Smith
Oysters and Lemons, 2023
Oil on panel
13 x 9 in / 33 x 22.9 cm
(CS-181)
Carrie Mae Smith’s studio in Gilbertsville, NY, 2023
Carrie Mae Smith
Two Oysters, 2023
Oil on panel
8 x 10 in / 20.3 x 25.4 cm
(CS-173)
Carrie Mae Smith
Single Oyster I, 2023
Oil on Mylar mounted on panel
10 x 8 in / 25.4 x 20.3 cm
(CS-176)
Carrie Mae Smith
Single Oyster II, 2023
Oil on Mylar mounted on panel
9 x 12 in / 22.9 x 30.5 cm
(CS-177)
Carrie Mae Smith painting in her studio in Gilbertsville, NY, 2023
Carrie Mae Smith
The Cut from Long Point, 2023
Oil on Mylar mounted on panel
9 x 12 in / 22.9 x 30.5 cm
(CS-184)
Carrie Mae Smith
Two Oysters an Oyster Shell and Two Lemon Wedges, 2023
Oil on ACM panel
18 x 24 in / 45.7 x 61 cm
(CS-182)
Carrie Mae Smith
The Cut, 2023
Oil on Mylar mounted on panel
8 x 11 in / 20.3 x 27.9 cm
(CS-185)
Carrie Mae Smith in her studio. Gilbertsville, NY, 2023