Phillip K Smith III: Portals

Each Portal is a part of Phillip K. Smith’s ongoing Lightworks series, investigating the relationship of color, form, surface and change. Smith views each Portal as a highly specific three-dimensional canvas that he paints with light over time. He crafts each color selection, location and pace of change to evoke a sense of breath within the work. The spatial experience changes from Portal to Portal based on Smith’s chosen color combination – at times giving the viewer a sense of pushing away from or pulling towards the wall. Additionally, each Portal is meant to adapt to the space in which it is shown, merging with the changing ambient light of the space. By day, the colors merge with the sunlight, creating more pastel light and shadow relationships, while at night, the colors saturate appearing to hover as the envelope the surrounding space.