Esther Smith

Esther Smith is a contemporary New Zealand painter working in realism to create enticingly detailed floral works.

Working in oil on canvas, Smith captures every intricacy of the flower; every fold of a petal drapes across the canvas, inviting immersion within her alluring palette and energetic compositions that exude a sense of harmony in full bloom. Smith is interested in overarching themes of duality and transience; noting particularly, “the human construct of time: whether linear or cyclical… microcosm / macrocosm, Dionysian / Apollonian, and utopian / dystopian… “. The floral subject emphasises this notion of the passing of time, our fleeting enjoyment of a moment, the waxing and waning of nature’s beauty.