Artist Q & A: Vicki Smith

In anticipation of her new solo exhibition Peace of Mind, Toronto based artist Vicki Smith talks about the origin of her swimmers, the natural pull towards a meditative space, and her growing intention of representing the oneness of nature and ourselves in her works.

Peace of Mind officially opens at Bau-Xi Vancouver on June 27 and runs through July 15, 2026.

Vicki Smith, Peaceful. Oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches.


1. Your swimmers are an instantly recognizable and beloved hallmark of your work. What first drew you to water as both a subject and a conceptual space?

I think that “the swim” is as close as I can get to the lightness of being. It is physically liberating. No gravity. No boundaries. My career has been spent exploring the figure in a moment of suspension and in the past my solution was to allow the figure to exist in a simple neutral space with no context. Watching my children swimming in a northern lake was an aha moment. That was about 20 years ago and ever since the suggestion of water has given my figures a recognizable place to exist. Over the years the beautiful abstract quality of the water and how it envelops the figure has become more complex and important to me. 

Vicki Smith, Wellness. Oil on canvas, 48 x 40 inches.


2. This new collection features several pieces with a lighter, more graphic rendering of the reflection of tree branches overhead. What is behind this new development for you?

In trying to capture the impermanent and temporary nature of my swimmers and of the water I started to simplify and lighten the reflections. This is me searching for the fleeting moment where figure, water and light become one. 

Vicki Smith, Flow. Oil on canvas, 40 x 48 inches.


3. Your compositions often eliminate traditional spatial boundaries, with water filling the canvas edge-to-edge, and an absence of a clear horizon or grounding point. What does this boundlessness allow you to explore?

I like to think of my paintings as portals rather than portraits. It’s very important to me that I create a space, almost a void, where the viewer can enter and bring their own experience. Keeping the figure and the landscape anonymous fosters that opening. 

Vicki Smith, One in the Same. Oil on canvas, 40 x 36 inches.


4. There is a sense that your subjects are not performing for the viewer but are deeply immersed in their own experience. How important is that inward focus?

I’d say that the paintings are an honest reflection of me. When I am truly in the flow I am deeply immersed and inwardly focused. The essence of that mindset comes across in the finished work.

 
5. What are your thoughts about the relationship between the figure and the surrounding environment? Are they separate, or do they begin to merge?

My focus over the last 2 years has been about loosing the separation between the figure and the environment. The abstract and transient nature of water allows me to explore my belief that we are all one, there is no separation.
 

Vicki Smith, Peace of Mind. Oil on canvas, 48 x 54 inches.


6. How open are you to viewers projecting their own emotional or psychological states onto the figures?

Art is therapy. Absolutely. Art acts as a mirror that reflects back to the viewer whatever they arrive with, regardless of what the artist intended.  I think of my paintings as a safe place for emotions and memories to surface.  It’s all about the viewers remembered experience, which might be much deeper than the simple act of swimming. The longer we explore a piece of art, the more psychosomatic it becomes.

7. Has your understanding of “peace of mind” changed in recent years, and if so, do you anticipate it continuing to shift?

I’ve had a dedicated meditation practice for 30 years which informs my paintings. The paintings are as close as I can get to the physical expression of “Peace of Mind”. 

The artist at her Toronto studio.