Rod Smith - Right Time, Right Place

By Clive Holloway
Posted in News, on April 10, 2025

Rod Smith is a Wuikinuxv/Kwakwaka'wakw artist and member of the renowned Smith family alongside his brother Steve Smith, niece Rachel Smith, and father, the late and legendary Harris Smith (Lalkawilas), from whom he learned the craft of Northwest Coast art. Rod’s artistic pursuit began at a young age and has since brought him (and his work) around the world, into private and public collections including an exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. Rod’s work, which consists primarily of painted sculptural pieces, recontextualizes traditional formline through the use of modern, minimal, and elegant shapes, colours, and concepts. 

This is Rod’s Right Time, Right Place, a turned alder bowl painted top and bottom with classic Smith family design work: wide-set crosshatching, stark and purposeful use of colour, flowing and precisely curved forms. The design is abstract yet easy to read: lines guide the eye back and forth over the bowl’s focal points (many of which are eyes), and an uncluttered, segmented composition allows individual consideration of each discrete section. Right Time, Right Place makes for a wonderful centrepiece and conversation starter.