Audra Smith
Audra Smith is currently a BFA candidate in Printmaking at the University of Colorado Boulder also pursuing a minor in Art History. Born in New London, Connecticut in 1998, Audra was raised in a rural Oklahoma town and moved to Colorado at the age of 12. Growing up in Oklahoma, she lived in the middle of nowhere surrounded by the native wildlife of her home state. In her day to day, she would encounter a variety of fauna that are now being integrated into her work.
While being inspired by the natural wildlife of the region, Audra's work currently focuses on incorporating her family history as well as reflecting on the memories she has from living in Oklahoma. She uses a variety of printmaking techniques including relief, drypoint, and monotype to create her prints.
Since I was a child, the knowledge and appreciation of genealogy is something that has been prevalent in my life from a young age. My mother, who has always been fascinated by her ancestry has traced her lineage back to before they immigrated over to America. On my mother’s side of my family, I know an abundance of genealogical information, while ironically, on my father’s side, it is the total opposite; I know next to nothing. My father’s side of the family is descended from Native Americans who were assimilated into society. Due to this, I know nothing about my ancestor’s culture and heritage with the exception of the little information I have received from my relatives from the area who are still living. I am interested in tracing my lineage and learning about what they had to endure in the recent past. While I am still learning about this side of my family, no matter how small, my art currently focuses on my childhood relationships with my Oklahoman family and the natural world that was around me in Oklahoma. I juxtapose my memory and my mental health to portray how my time spent there affected me in my formative years and how my ancestral narrative ties into these memories.
Email: ausm6578@colorado.edu
Instagram: @audra_98
