Repressed Reality: A Solo Painting Exhibition by Ivy Rose Smith

I am an ambitious surrealist artist from Baltimore, MD. I hold bachelors degree in Studio Art and Anthropology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

My brain has always been chaotic and loud. The only time my brain is quiet is when I'm listening to music and painting or drawing. My neurodivergence has gifted me synesthesia, which means I see colors and shapes when I listen to music or hear sounds in general. With all the noise of the outside world, I am very easily triggered by sounds so when I listen to music, it's like all the chaos can be streamlined. That streamline produces my paintings and drawings, or as I affectionately call them, my  "brain dumps."

I find a lot of comfort in the surrealist movement for this reason. Although Dali spoke extensively about creating from dreams, I don't think that honors the full power of the movement. Frida Kahlo and Leonora Carrington, for example, painted as a way to process their trauma and shed light on parts of their brain that their survival instincts were protecting them from (like repressed memories). My art helps me heal and find authenticity and power in pain.

I paint pretty exclusively on black canvases because they feel more mysterious, vast, and infinite. Most of my artwork covers topics of trauma, feminism, activism, and my muse Brett. Most recently, I've been focusing very heavily on on healing my inner child and honoring parts of her that she was unable to explore as a child.

I am chaos incarnate…and I know I’m not the only one.