Emily Cormack writes, “Smith’s practice is like an ecosystem unto itself, adhering to its own codes and systems that mutate wilfully and with obvious pleasure.” Colour is arguably Smith’s subject as a painter. She has long been interested in its theories and histories but is also attuned to its sensational qualities. Though relentless trial and error, she explores its interactions and dimensionality, creating complex visual puzzles that create deeply rewarding experiences for the viewer. Smith’s painting is a celebration of chromatic dynamism, teetering the line between a focused methodology and improvised intuition. As Julie Ewington so aptly writes, Smith’s painting “takes a perverse pleasure in colour”, and it is truly the joy of colour that lies at the heart of her practice.

A leading figure in contemporary painting, Smith’s work has been collected extensively, and is held in major institutional collections across the country. Recently her work featured in the inaugural collection display at the AGNSW new Naala Badu building and has been included in exhibitions such as Living Patterns, Queensland Art Gallery/ Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane (2023), Know My Name Know My Name, National Gallery, Canberra (2020), and Wheriko - Brilliant!, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhet, Christchurch (2019), . Smith has completed major public art projects such as Collision and Improvisation at the Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law (Brisbane, 2012), and Triple Tangle, the 2018 Foyer Wall Commission at the MCA. A major survey of her career, Rhythm Sequence (2019), was exhibited at UNSW Galleries in Sydney, and travelled to QUT Art Museum, Brisbane.