Iver Smith
a multidisciplinary artist curious about the possibilities of healing through ephemeral states of light, colour, in-between spaces, and temporality.
Medicine bag on cairn (details), 2024
Iver Smith is an uninvited settler residing on and between the stolen, unceded, traditional, ancestral, and occupied territories of the Hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ , Halq̓eméylem and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim speaking peoples. This includes the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, səlilwətaɬ, sc̓əwaθən, Stó:lō, and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh peoples, respectively.
Smith investigates extraordinary forms of communication through obliteration to indirectly disclose difficult personal experiences. As a multidisciplinary artist, they engage in oil pastel drawing, textiles, new media, performance, and installation. With a research-based practice delving into archaeological records as often as theoretical physics, Smith is interested in connections between themself, the world around them, and the hidden spaces in between.
In addition to their art practice, Smith has been employed since 2020 as a curatorial associate at museums and cultural organizations across the so-called Lower Mainland. Their work focuses on community-first curation and “Active Collections” practices. Guided by listening, relationship-building, and collaboration, Smith carries out collections research, repatriation, care, curation, and access to accurately reflect the needs and interests of community groups directly harmed by colonial forms of museology.
CV
Solo Exhibitions:
Cannery REcollections, Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site, 2025
Group Exhibitions:
Taking up Space, James Black Gallery, 2024
Dream Safely, Audain Gallery at Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, 2023
Flower Moon, 611 Studios, 2023
Everyone Is Happening Always, Audain Gallery at Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, 2022
Education:
Diploma in Cultural Resource Managment, 2025 - Present
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Simon Fraser University, 2024
Diploma of Fine Arts, snəw̓eyəɬ leləm̓ Langara College, 2021
Academic Awards:
Bob Rennie Undergraduate Award in Visual Arts, 2023
Simon Fraser University
Dr. Tashakkor Undergraduate Award in Contemporary Arts, 2022
Simon Fraser University
Memberships:
Member, Canadian Artists’ Representation/Le Front des artistes canadiens (CARFAC)
Member, Craft Council of BC
Member, Greater Vancouver Weaver and Spinners Guild