Joshua Smith
Interviewed by Sophie at The Spires College
Joshua Smith is a self-proclaimed artist of the miniature, but this art packs a punch that’s anything but minute. Based in Southern Australia, Smith shines a new-found light onto the urban life we so often overlook. Throughout his career, his sculptural works have been showcased in major exhibitions in London, New York and Berlin.
Working at 1:20 scale, Smith builds exquisitely detailed models that capture the hidden beauty of urban life in the forgotten parts of cities such as Hong Kong and San Francisco. By focusing on the overlooked aspects of city life, Smith draws our attention to the dirt, grime and beautiful decay that adorns our richly diverse surroundings.
In this interview, Sophie finds out what inspires Smith’s practice and how he marries architectural homage, detailed decay and societal contemplation in his miniature worlds.
Welcome to Formal Elements Joshua and thanks for taking the time to talk to us about your work. For those unfamiliar with your practice, can you tell us a little about your artwork and how you’d describe your style?
My work focuses on forgotten, overlooked and abandoned buildings from around the world, places which have been neglected and as a result are usually broken, decayed and covered in graffiti, grime and rust. These are layers of history and time which all tell a story. My work replicates that.
“If you want to stand out, be original and do something new”
In your broad array of work, which of your miniatures has had the biggest and most meaningful impact on you and why?
I have a lot of favourite works such as the Sushi Noodle Guy and a more recent build that I made for a group exhibition in Melbourne but i'd say the work from where it all took off was the Temple Street miniature based on a building in Temple Street in Kowloon, Hong Kong which I made for the VOLTA Art Fair in New York City back in 2017. That work was the first work of mine to go "viral" and started the hype around my artwork.
Having spent a large portion of my childhood in urban settings similar to what you’ve created, I often feel very nostalgic when looking at and researching your art. Do you ever feel a sense of nostalgia or an emotional connection with your pieces? If so, can you tell us about any that stand out in particular?
Often a lot of the places I build are locations I have never even been to and in some cases I have visited the real location only after building the miniature. I guess it’s more that I have a love of the look of the buildings and build a connection for them for mainly aesthetic reasons. I myself grew up in a small country town on the coast until I moved to the city when I was 18. Although there are some beautiful old buildings in the city I now live in, my favourites are actually in other cities or countries.
“I have a love of the look of buildings and build a connection with them for mainly aesthetic reasons”
What do you hope is to come for the future generation of miniature artists?
There are a lot of new miniaturists emerging nowadays, when I started I thought I was the only person doing what I was doing but within a few months I found a handful of others doing the same. Now there are thousands of miniaturist artists. I find a lot of their work to be really good but the standout ones are the artists creating their own style or something unique. Unfortunately, there are some that copy the work of others which just looks boring and lazy as a result. If you want to stand out, be original and do something new. Create your own style in the world of miniatures.
I often view your art as having some form of narrative, a tale of the place and its inhabitants seems to unfold in the viewers mind. Do you research the buildings and lives of the people in these areas when finding inspiration for your next sculpture?
Usually I pick buildings based on their aesthetic looks and then go into the history of the buildings which is often fascinating. For example the Olympia Milk Bar was run by two brothers one of whom passed away, leaving the other living in the premises above the shop. To honour his brothers memory he would sporadically open the Milk Bar to the public and continue to run it as a business, refusing any help in doing so. Eventually the council has to shut the business down due to structural safety concerns and remove him to live in assisted care. I heard that he recently passed away a few months ago. Nearly all the builds I create are based on abandoned or forgotten buildings and so have equally interesting stories to tell.
“From around 14 years old though, I was actively involved in the music, graffiti and street art scene”
How do you think the era and area you grew up in has affected your art?
I grew up in the second half of the 80s and 90s in a small coastal town called Ardrossan, Australia but would visit the nearby city of Adelaide most weekends. From around 14 years old though I was actively involved in the music, graffiti and street art scene hanging out with artists, musicians and producers. When I was 18 I moved to Adelaide in the early 2000s and found my place in the art scene making stencils, opening my own art gallery and around 8 years ago I started creating miniatures.
What or who first motivated and inspired you to create your style of artwork?
I have always loved old buildings and architecture, the first miniature I built was for a local art competition and I won first prize. It was a concept I thought was truly original and I thought nobody else had done it before. It was only a few months into building them that I then discovered other artists who were doing the same type thing.
“nowadays in order for precision and speed I design, laser-cut, 3D print and resin print a lot of my parts”
What are your favourite materials to work with and why?
I work mainly with MDF, styrene and resin. Initially when I started I was building everything by hand but nowadays in order for precision and speed I design, laser-cut, 3D print and resin print a lot of my parts. As I’m designing the parts from scratch, I’m still building them even if they’re being machine cut. It requires a whole new set of skills to 3D design and essentially engineer new parts and components for a sculpture.
Your artwork has been exhibited across the world, taking it to the forefront of miniature modelling and is celebrated by your peers and followers. With such a portfolio, where do you see your work going in the future?
I hope to be able to curate or co-curate more group exhibitions showcasing the work of multiple miniaturists. As much as commissions pay the bills, nobody gets to see the work besides the client and making works for exhibitions is time consuming and risky (with only 50% potential return). I'd love to do more exhibitions like the Miniature Worlds Exhibition at QVMAG that I’m currently Co-curating, this way I can run an exhibition for more people to see.