Co.Lab Gallery presents

DENISE SMITH

WILDLIFE SOUVENIR

EXHIBITION OPENS THURS. SEPT 4TH, 6-9PM

SHOW CLOSES OCT 8TH, 2025

Wildlife Souvenir brings together ceramic sculptures, paintings, and drawings that reimagine nostalgic keepsakes;transforming souvenir plates, figurines, and familiar decorative objects into imaginative scenes that question our relationship with the natural world.

Smith’s work explores the complex ways human culture shapes our understanding of nature, revealing tensions between viewing it as an expendable resource and recognizing our interconnectedness within it. This relationship, shaped by culture, history, and personal experience, profoundly affects both human well-being and ecological health.

Blending humour and charm with a critical lens, Smith’s works invite viewers to look closely at themes of urban sprawl, invasive species, and ecological imbalance. What first appears playful and familiar gradually shifts, exposing how memory, culture, and consumption continue to leave lasting marks on the environments we inhabit.

Artist Bio:

Denise Smith is a contemporary Canadian visual artist working in the mediums of sculpture, ceramics, drawing and painting. Living and working in Thunder Bay, Smith is influenced by the proximity of wilderness in the city and the resulting tension between natural and urban environments.

Smith is a graduate of the University of Regina’s Master of Fine Arts program (2016) and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Lakehead University (2010). She has exhibited across Canada and internationally, with residencies at the Clayarch Gimhae Ceramic Museum (South Korea), Medalta Historic Clay District (Alberta, Canada), and the Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen (China).