Cheri Smith
b.1991, Essex, UKlives and works in London (UK)
Cheri Smith (b. 1991, Essex, UK) currently lives and works in London. Her work explores themes of animality, embodiment, wildness, and strangeness. Cheri’s painted world and its symbolic elements are deeply rooted in the principles of nature. Earthy colours and a sensitivity to natural details and textures draw attention to the organic cycles of life. Animals and plants recur as lively symbols, weaving individual elements into a collective narrative.
Through her unique lens, Cheri addresses complex themes such as life and death, reaching toward the origins and continuities of existence. She paints with oil, egg tempera, and glue distemper on various supports including canvas, wood panels, and book covers. Beyond traditional techniques, Smith employs a distinctive method of layering thin, tonal glazes to create a subtle luminosity. Her paintings are not merely individual images but living components that blur the boundaries between reality and imagination.
Cheri Smith received her BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Norwich University of the Arts in 2013, then completed her post-graduate degree in Drawing from Royal Drawing School in 2018, where she was awarded the Trustees Prize. She has been a recipient of residencies at Hanover Grange, Jamaica (2019), Borgo Pignano, Italy (2020), and Dumfries House, Scotland (2022). Her recent exhibitions include: Deja Vu, Galleria Annarumma (Napoli, 2024); Swallowing Figments, Fortnight Institute (Solo, New York, 2024); Four-Folds, Lychee One (London, 2024); Here be Dragons, James Freeman Gallery (London, 2023); The Consolation of Clinamen, Tabula Rasa Gallery (Beijing, 2023); Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize (online, 2023); It’s Better to Be Cats Than Be Loved, Tabula Rasa Gallery (London, 2022); Bookworks, James Freeman Gallery (London, 2022); Nine Lives, Fortnight Institute (New York, 2021); Winter Solstice 2020 Art, Books & Ephemera, Fortnight Institute (New York, 2020); The Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize, the Mall Galleries (London, 2019); and Best of the Drawing Year at Christie’s (London, 2018), among others.
RELATED EXHIBITION An Earthing, Tabula Rasa Beijing, November 2025
The Consolation of Clinamen, Tabula Rasa Beijing, July 2023
It is Better to be Cats than be Loved, Group show, Tabula Rasa London, July 2022
Through her unique lens, Cheri addresses complex themes such as life and death, reaching toward the origins and continuities of existence. She paints with oil, egg tempera, and glue distemper on various supports including canvas, wood panels, and book covers. Beyond traditional techniques, Smith employs a distinctive method of layering thin, tonal glazes to create a subtle luminosity. Her paintings are not merely individual images but living components that blur the boundaries between reality and imagination.
Cheri Smith received her BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Norwich University of the Arts in 2013, then completed her post-graduate degree in Drawing from Royal Drawing School in 2018, where she was awarded the Trustees Prize. She has been a recipient of residencies at Hanover Grange, Jamaica (2019), Borgo Pignano, Italy (2020), and Dumfries House, Scotland (2022). Her recent exhibitions include: Deja Vu, Galleria Annarumma (Napoli, 2024); Swallowing Figments, Fortnight Institute (Solo, New York, 2024); Four-Folds, Lychee One (London, 2024); Here be Dragons, James Freeman Gallery (London, 2023); The Consolation of Clinamen, Tabula Rasa Gallery (Beijing, 2023); Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize (online, 2023); It’s Better to Be Cats Than Be Loved, Tabula Rasa Gallery (London, 2022); Bookworks, James Freeman Gallery (London, 2022); Nine Lives, Fortnight Institute (New York, 2021); Winter Solstice 2020 Art, Books & Ephemera, Fortnight Institute (New York, 2020); The Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize, the Mall Galleries (London, 2019); and Best of the Drawing Year at Christie’s (London, 2018), among others.
RELATED EXHIBITION An Earthing, Tabula Rasa Beijing, November 2025
The Consolation of Clinamen, Tabula Rasa Beijing, July 2023
It is Better to be Cats than be Loved, Group show, Tabula Rasa London, July 2022
Tabula Rasa Gallery (London)
Unit One, 99 East Road,
Hoxton, London
N1 6AQ
Unit One, 99 East Road,
Hoxton, London
N1 6AQ
Tuesday - Saturday 12:00 - 18:00 | Sunday - Monday Closed
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