The Craftsman ed.2/2

About The Craftsman ed.2/2

This bronze figurative tabletop sculpture by Roch Smith features a canoe.

Canadian sculptor Roch Smith has turned his attention to a cherished national and historic pastime—canoeing. Smith is highly regarded for his imaginative, hand forged, meticulously detailed sculptures-- both large and small.
Here, he returns to playing with scale to create a series of small sculptures with an iconic theme.
The Canadian wooden canoe was once called ‘one of the greatest achievements of mankind’ by Bill Mason, the famous Canadian author and filmmaker. Smith’s dark bronze sculpture depicts a casually dressed male figure standing beside an upright canoe that is double his size. Edition 2 of 2.

“The Craftsman might be somewhat of a self-portrait - a composition on the pride of construction of a useful artifact. In my work, the scale of the miniature compositions work, but in real life, one wouldn't have a canoe upended in that way. But it speaks to the idea of play - that it can seem to work is part of the point.” 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). As a teacher and 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.