About Me
Jennifer Tarry-Smith is a Melbourne based artist working in the medium of printmaking and drawing. She produces abstract works that are meditative explorations of line and negative space.
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Humans have a tendency to observe patterns everywhere; from minute patterns at an atomic level through to the patterns in the universe, patterns in our natural environment, in the behaviour of plants and animals, in sound, in smell, in time, in human behaviour and in man made objects. This recognition of pattern allows us to make order in our world and to predict what is to come. I am drawn to the intricacies and nuances that emerge as pattern evolves and changes to suit its environment. It is these subtle differences that distinguish the hand-made from machine-made, and highlights the beauty in the imperfect.
I am also intrigued by reiterations of lines in jazz, particularly in improvisation. Images emerge from a specific attention to textural ideas, dissolving sound boundaries and emotional responses. I am drawn to the creative freedom that comes from understanding the chord structures and melody of a piece of music, and then altering and building on those sounds in an improvised section.
A parallel can be drawn between this and the way in which I create my imagery; working layer by layer to create a completed piece, this gradual resolution is based on reactions and interpretations in the act of creating the art work. The act of laying down lines and leaving spaces is an ongoing, intuitive process. Each line responds to the curves and crevices that form larger shapes and contortions. My work attempts to capture human intuition; a capsule of moments in time, decisions and reactions, resulting in a unified body of work.
The rhythmic, ruminative process of producing the line based artwork is juxtaposed in the repetitive, systematic process of printmaking. In the editioning process, a printmaker strives to recreate each impression as a perfect replica of the one that proceeds it. I find myself constantly problem solving; changing and shifting small things as the inking patterns and printing process is repeated over and over. My practice springs from the junction between the discipline of my chosen medium and the instinctive, meditative state that drives the image making process.
You can find my work at
I am currently closed for commissions.
From August 2024 until May 2025 I am participating in the Printer Training Program at Tamarind Institute. This opportunity has been a dream of mine for a long time and I will be trained in lithography in Albuquerque at the University of New Mexico.
Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drawing and Printmaking), Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne (2016-2018)
TAE40116 Certificate IV in Assessment and Training 2022
Tamarind Institute: Fine Art Lithography Summer Workshop 2022
Recent Exhibitions
2024 New Beginnings, Group Exhibition, Boom Gallery, Geelong Australia
2024 Cerulean Currents, Solo Exhibition, Boom Gallery, Geelong Australia
2023 Tracing Change, Group Exhibition, Modern Times, Melbourne Australia
2023 Summer Salon, Group Exhibition, Boom Gallery, Geelong Australia
2023 Printmaking Today 3rd Edition, Site Eight Gallery, RMIT University, Melbourne Australia
2023 Subtle Realms, Jennifer Tarry-Smith, Hillary Green and Ria Green, Modern Times, Australia
2023 It's not me, it's you, Group exhibition, Fiona and Sydney Myer Gallery, Melbourne Australia
2023 Tech Support, Group Exhibition, TCB Gallery, Melbourne Australia
2022 A Gentle Unwinding, Group show, Modern Times, Melbourne Australia
2022 Editions Print Prize, Tacit Gallery, Melbourne Australia
2022 Don't Be a Stranger: Group Exhibition, Brunswick St Gallery, Melbourne Australia
2022 Flow State, Boom Gallery, Geelong Australia
2021 Megalo Online Lithography Exhibition, Megalo Studio, ACT Australia
2021 Radiant Dreams, Modern Times group show, Melbourne Australia
2021 Ripple, Boom Gallery, Geelong Australia
2021 Resist Relief, No Vacancy Gallery, Melbourne Australia
2021 Chromatic Retreat, Group show at Modern Times, Melbourne Australia
2021 Lethbridge 20000 Small Scale Art Award, Lethbridge Art Gallery, Brisbane Australia
2021 Quintessence, Firestation Print Studio, Melbourne Australia
2020 Talismans, Rafts, Mementos, Group exhibition at Modern Times, Melbourne Australia
2020 Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, NSW Australia
2020 Editions 2020, Tacit Gallery, Melbourne Australia
2020 Long Way Round, Solo Show at Black Cat Gallery, Melbourne Australia
2019 Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award, Lane Cove Gallery, NSW Australia
2019 Intangible Jennifer Tarry-Smith and Belinda Reid, Printmakers Gallery, Melbourne Australia 2019 After Class; our pick of the graduates, Red Gallery, Melbourne Australia
2019 Graduation Show, Victorian college of the Arts, Melbourne Australia
2019 Majilis Travelling Scholarship, Margaret Laurence Gallery, Melbourne Australia
2018 The Australian Print Triennial Print Prize, The Art Vault, Mildura Australia
2018 Plate Tone, Australian Print Council, Collins Place Gallery, Melbourne Australia
2018 Cross Currents, Tokyo University of Fine Art Student Gallery, Tokyo Japan;
Victorian College of the Arts Student Gallery, Melbourne Australia
2017 Zureta, Tokyo University of Fine Art, Japan Tokyo; The Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art
and Design Wroclaw, Poland; University of Art Bratislava, Slovakia; College of Fine Arts
Shanghai University, China; The Victorian College of the Arts, Australia
2016-2018 Various group shows at VCA Student Gallery
Projects
2023 RMIT Print Exchange
2023 Artist Collaboration with Crumble
https://www.crumbleinterior.com.au/products/jen-tarry-smith-x-crumble
2022 RMIT Print Exchange
2021 Print Exchange: a project I created to connect a range of printmakers from emerging
to well established from Australia, Japan and Italy.
2021 Q&A piece by Andrew Stephens for Imprint on Belinda Reid and my exhibition
Quintessence at Firestation Print Studio https://www.printcouncil.org.au/quintessence/
2020 Inhabit Project. An online blog created by Isabel Rumble where emerging artists shared
their thoughts around ideas of presence and place.
Selected Media Coverage
2024 Featured Artwork, The Design Files
2023 Featured Artwork, Dulux Australia Colour Forecast 2024
2022 Featured Artwork, TV Show Country Home Rescue by Shayna Blaze
2021 Featured Artwork, Pan After
2020 Featured Artwork, Inside Out Magazine
2020 Featured Artwork, Real Living Magazine
2020 Artist Interview, Boom Gallery
2020 Artist Interview, Brunswick St Gallery Artist Spotlight
2019 Artist Interview, Modern Times Blog
Artist in Residence
2019 Print Residency at the Scoula Internazionale di Grafica, Venice ITALY
2019 Print Residency at Presbyterian Ladies College, Melbourne AUSTRALIA
Awards
Recipient of the Marjorie, L. Devon Scholarship Award (2024), Recipient of the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Fund (2023), Finalist in the Firestation Monoprint Prize (2023), Finalist in the Lethbridge 20000 Small Scale Art Award (2021), Finalist in the Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize (2020), Finalist in the Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award (2019), John Vickery Scholarship for excellence (2018); Short-listed for the Megalo 2019 Residency Canberra (2018); Short-listed for the Australian Print Triennial Print Prize Mildura (2018); Presbyterian Ladies College Artist Residency Program for 2019 (2018); Melbourne University Travel Funds Scholarship to attend the Zureta exhibition in Tokyo (2017)
