Upstate New York-born and Houston-based artist Kaneem Smith’s sculptural installations draw inspiration from a familial and historical standpoint of personal experience and the human condition. Her exploration of three-dimensional form incorporates ideas of subtle exploitation of human anthropology, archeology, and American history, and as a fiber artist and sculptor, these concepts run a common thread throughout her body of work. By creating thought-provoking installations out of repurposed materials for her sculptural investigations, she aspires to challenge the viewer to participate in a dialogue that references global concerns on ethical trade, the West’s over-consumption of natural resources, and historical colonialist interactions on the natural environment.

Kaneem Smith has served as a visiting sculpture faculty member at several Texas-based institutions including Texas Tech University, the University of Houston, and Rice University. She studied at the Maryland Institute, College of Art and at Rice University before receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University. She is currently working towards earning a PhD in Art Theory and Philosophy through the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts.

Among her awards and residencies, Smith was the recipient of a visual arts fellowship through The Hungarian Multicultural Center Artists & Writers Residency Program in Hungary (2003), an Edward F. Albee Residency Grant (2005), Vermont Studio Center Fellowships (2006) (2008), a Visual Arts Fellowship from the Creative Capital Foundation in New York (2008). Ms. Smith also received studio fellowships for the Atelierhaus Hilmsen Residency for Artists and Professionals in Germany (2010) (2012), and was a grant Finalist Artadia (2012 Houston).