As I Came Upon a Clearing No 05 P. Roch Smith

For Canadian artist, P. Roch Smith, the popular 1960’s soldier toy, ‘GI Joe' embodies the quintessential male identity and has served as a material and theoretical thread for his work. Roch believes that play and creativity have a strong relationship. For these long, slender figures the muscular limbs of GI Joe are imaginatively replaced with delicate and sturdy twigs cast in bronze. Roch received a BFA (Honours Sculpture) from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design (ECIAD - 1997) and an MFA from York University (2003). A teacher as well as an artist, he has taught classes at the University of Waterloo, ECIAD and York University. He currently manages and operates the bronze and aluminum foundry at York University. Roch has exhibited throughout Canada and in the US and his work is included in private, corporate and museum collections in British Columbia, Toronto, Los Angeles and New York.