Colleen Francis Smith

Foresteria is a series of seven interwoven narrative paintings in which the forest is represented as a liminal landscape that exists between fantasy and reality. Inspired by my daily walks through the local trails of Columbia, Missouri, these paintings are about the search for deeper meaning after trying to fit the societal mold has been exhausted. They are about finding comfort in discomfort and placelessness, and learning to trust uncertainty. Using the forest as a psychological platform for journey, the figures in these paintings escape their daily worlds by wandering and tripping over tree-roots and down pathways, chasing after something they cannot name. The forest that connects my paintings does not have a destination, and is not a wild and unadulterated one, but one which human intention has been imprinted upon. It winds through backyards and fantastical spaces, and seamlessly shifts the narrative from being grounded in reality to being consumed and trapped by one’s own perception and imagination.

Selected early paintings made between 2009 and 2013