Greeting

About Greeting

This indoor figurative bronze sculpture is made by Canadian artist Roch Smith.

The imaginative sculptural work of Roch Smith often takes a playful approach to more serious themes. Here, Smith revisits a form that was inspired by nature—male figures whose arms and legs are replaced by finely detailed tree branches or twigs. Cast in bronze, the two figures are facing each other, arms extended as if in friendship. This idea for this series first came to Smith in a daydream. Its narrative explores the idea of human connection–both physically and mentally.

“While the figures have branch limbs it is not lost on me when I physically join two figures that there is a sense of touch or of touching involved. As a sculptor who is constantly handling artifacts as I create them - this tactility is perhaps implied but when I look at the works it sits well with me that their proximity to each other speaks to our fundamental sense of touch.” Roch Smith

Roch Smith 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 Smith has exhibited throughout Canada and in the US. His work is included in private, corporate and museum collections.