About the Artist
About the Artist
Clio Smith (b. 2001) is a painter who creates landscapes, still lifes of interior spaces, and portraits. She grew up in Northern California, and after graduating from UC Berkeley in 2023, she moved to New York City to expand her artistic vision and develop her artistic career.
Clio uses bright, vivid colors to capture the life and beauty she sees in the people, seemingly trivial household objects, and landscapes of paths that she paints. Her work is shaped by her diverse experiences and studies in Japan, Germany, and Brazil. This global perspective enriches her art, reflecting a blend of natural and cultural influences from different environments around the world. Her paintings are an expression of gratitude for and testimony of her experiences. Ultimately, her work seeks to explore how personal and cultural identity are expressed across domestic and natural spaces.
How it Started
Clio has always enjoyed creating and sharing her art with people. In high school, she exhibited her works in galleries and museums across the United States. In college and presently, she has sold her handmade origami earrings through this e-commerce site and in boutiques along the west coast. She now frequents the art galleries in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC and continues to create oil paintings in her studio and sell prints and commissioned pieces.
Creative Inspiration
I lived with a host family and attended high school in Japan, an experience that catalyzed my interest in culture and language learning. While in Japan, I bonded with students over folding paper origami. This was a cultural tradition the students were proud of and something I was eager to learn. To share my Japanese art skills and my affinity for fashion, I later created this website selling my handmade Japanese origami earrings. My small business is a testament to my passion for cultural immersion and a statement of my own artistic focus on cultural traditions.