Mallory Smith

August 5, 2021.

Posted by Monika Plemen.

Mallory Sm // June 2021

Mallory is a multi-disciplinary artist and designer from New York working out of Brooklyn. Mallory’s work consists of printmaking as well as wearable textiles; including drawing, painting, and small editions of clothing. She completed her B.F.A in Printmaking at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in 2018 and have been working on independent projects and freelance work since; while attending residency programs and developing a clothing brand and collaborative screen printing business.

During her time at the Fish Factory, Mallory worked on a large-scale linen picture book, cooking, and drawing shared domestic spaces. This work came from thoughts of collectivity and how it relates to language, food, and handmade processes. Her main focus during my time at the factory was a latex coated linen book called Three as well as a short written manuscript, Tomorrow Morning.

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Artist Statement:

Through multiple mediums and disciplines, I am interested in relationships. My primary focus is defining relationships, including romantic, familial, and other interpersonal relationships as they relate to relationships on a formal level. I am studying the butterfly effect; the way that small things can have an impact on larger systems. Three is a sculptural book about butterflies and feelings (the to the touch kind). I have noticed that these qualities of life often evade language; they exist more as sensations. Three exists within this space as a part of a whole; my work includes created objects as well as interactions – potlucks and parties or a video call. The translation of thoughts can vary visually across different languages but reduced they are all pictures made by sensitive human hands. The language within Three bridges the gap between language in its literal sense (thoughts as symbols as letters as words as sentences) and nonverbal exchange.

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I am interested in the qualities of life that make it all kind of feel like it’s worth something. As things become more and more automated and clean and geometric sometimes the human touch can be lost. There is so much time spent trying to mimic the human touch that could be spent making a big dinner for your friends and family or holding someone really tightly. I am not yet willing to eliminate the more luscious qualities of life at the expense of more measured order (cleaner, faster, less waiting, less wondering, less mess). I would like to reframe the mess, frame it specifically so that it is viewed, and reframe touch so that the results of it are beautiful without retouch.

Thank you, Mallory! :)