contact : talsmith09[@]gmail.com / instagram : [@]taylorsmithart
BIOgraphy
EN: Taylor Alaina Liebenstein Smith (b. 1993) is a U.S.-born, French-naturalized visual artist currently based in Oslo, Norway. She understands the climate crisis as a crisis of perception, and thus capacity for affect. With this in mind, she attempts to cultivate attunement and emotional sensitivity to seemingly dead or distant geobiological entities like permafrost or biofilms. To do this, she collaborates with scientists, poets, dancers, architects and other species, deconstructing perceived boundaries between scientific and artistic knowledge. Materially, her practice explores the poetic intersections between analog and biological media, blending bioart with film and video, installation, performance, sound, photography, printmaking and text. She holds an MFA from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, an MA in Cultural Mediation from the École du Louvre in Paris and both a BFA in Painting and a BA in Art History from Boston University. Her work has been exhibited in France, Norway, Finland, Germany, Spain, and the U.S, including at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, Atelier Nord in Oslo, and the KulttuuriKauppila Art Centre in Finland. Her works are also included in the French National Collections.
FR : Taylor Alaina Liebenstein Smith est artiste plasticienne née aux États-Unis (1993), naturalisée française, et actuellement basée à Oslo, Norvège. Elle comprend la crise climatique comme une crise de la perception, et donc de notre capacité d’affect, ou d’émotion. C'est dans cet esprit qu’elle collabore avec des scientifiques, des poètes, des danseurs et d'autres espèces, tentant de déconstruire les frontières perçues entre les savoirs artistiques et scientifiques. Sur le plan matériel, sa pratique explore les intersections poétiques entre les médias analogiques et biologiques, mêlant le bioart avec le film, la vidéo, l'installation, la performance, le son, la photographie, la gravure et le texte. Elle est titulaire d’un master en arts plastiques de l'Académie des beaux-arts d'Oslo (Norvège), ainsi qu’un master en médiation culturelle de l'École du Louvre à Paris et d'un double diplôme (BFA en peinture et BA en histoire de l'art) de l'université de Boston. Ses œuvres ont été exposées en France, en Norvège, en Finlande, en Allemagne, en Espagne et aux États-Unis, notamment au Muséum national d'histoire naturelle à Paris, à l’Atelier Nord à Oslo et au centre d’art KulttuuriKauppila en Finlande. Ses œuvres font également partie des collections nationales françaises.
CV
EXHIBITIONS
SOLO
A feeling of longing that freezes and thaws, Atelier Nord, Oslo, Norway, March 6-23, 2025
A familiar veil, Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Oslo, Norway, February 2, 2024
Printing Through the Landscape, KulttuuriKauppila Art Centre, Ii, Finland, May 19-26, 2021.
Symbiosis and How to Capture Flow, both Fondation des États-Unis, Paris, France, March 8- 31 2018 and January 10-31, 2019
Végétal / Cérébral : du vivant à l'objet, Colegio de España, Paris, France, February 8- 28, 2018
GROUP (SELECTED)
becoming—-Fluid, NOBA (Norwegian Bioart Arena), Ås, Norway, 2026 (dates TBA). Curated by Rebekka Sæter
Hold\, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, Norway, June 5- July 30, 2025. Curated by Lisa Rosendal
Systemet, Royal Flush Gallery, Oslo, Norway, Nov. 7, 2023. Curated by Kim Henning Andreassen
Inaugural exhibition of the Studio Bioinspire-Muséum, Galerie de botanique, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France, Fête de la science, October 7-13, 2023
Habiter l’autre rive, Galerie Mémoire de l’avenir, Paris, France, 10/11- 3/12
Mare nostrum: fragili vita, November 15 2020- January 31, 2021, Marítima ‘01: online. Curated by Elena Posokhova.
MIND Foundation Symposium on Consciousness Culture, Berlin, Germany, September 4-6 2020
Constellation(s), Le 6b, Saint-Denis, France, curated by Nathalie Borowski and Luca Nicolao, May 2019
Processus, Le Nucléus, Ivry-sur-seine, France, April 2017
Paysages Intérieurs, Galerie de la Fondation des Etats-Unis, Paris, France, January 2017
Atlas Flow mural project, Asociación Atlas, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, July 2016
Emmène-moi ailleurs, Black Trombone, Paris, France, June 2016 (organized by the Association ParticipAction)
4th National Monotype and Monoprint Exhibition, Monotype Guild of New England, Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro, Massachusetts, April 6- May 7, 2016
À propos des bulles, Vinissime gallery, Paris, March 22- April 9, 2016 (solo)
L’interprétation de la forme: de la peinture à travers la danse à la photographie, Galerie de la Fondation des Etats-Unis, Paris, April 6- May 5, 2016
Demonstration Drawings, exhibition and workshop with Rirkrit Tirivanija, Musée du Louvre, Paris, October - November, 2015
Off the Wall: A small works show, The Umbrella Arts Gallery, Boston, MA, November 23, 2015 - January 8, 2016
The Color of Thin Air, Sculpture Fix, Online Exhibition at www.sculpturefix.com, June 1 - July 15, 2015
RESIDENCIES
ATELIER NORD, Oslo, Norway, May 15-21, 2023
MUSTARINDA, Hyrynsalmi, Finland, May 3-30 2022
LE 6B, Saint-Denis, France, February 2019- September 2022
ARS BIOARCTICA (The Bioart Society), Kilpisjärvi Biological Station, Finland, March 27- April 30 2021
KULTTUURIKAUPPILA ART CENTRE, Ii, Finland, April 30- June 15 2021
MARÍTIMA ’01, online, June 1-30 2020
SOURCES, Les Halles du Faubourg, Lyon, France, March 2020
L’ENTRE-DEUX, Pantin, France, November 2018- February 2019
LA FONDATION DES ÉTATS-UNIS, Paris, France, 2015-2018
ASSOCIACIÓN ATLAS, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, July 2016
COLLECTIONS
Centre international de poésie, Marseille, France
Fondation des États-Unis, Atelier Bo Halbirk, both Paris, France
Asociación Atlas, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
FUEL Education and Boston University School of Visual Arts, Boston, MA, USA
Private collections in Paris, Tokyo, London, Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Dallas
CONFERENCES, PUBLICATIONS & WORKSHOPS
Radical Reuse, Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Material Ecologies of Design seminar, Oslo, Norway, November 12 2025
“Langøya: Tracing the life lines of an island-hole”, collaborative text written with architect Thomas McQuillan, (Dis)appearance: Artistic Perspectives on the Noticeable and the Imperceivable, APRIA artistic research platform, Arnhem, Netherlands
Langøya, Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Material Ecologies of Design seminar, Sept. 10 2025, Langøya, Norway
Back to Frozen Earth: Permafrost in Social Theory and Beyond, conference, SciencesPo, Paris, France, June 17-18 2025
Poetic Navigations in a Scientific Space with Ane Graff, Seminar on Art and Science, University of Oslo, Norway, April 25, 2025
A feeling of longing that freezes and thaws, video work to be published in becoming—-Fluid, online publication, 2025
Perceiving Permafrost, panel discussion with Sebastian Westermann, Anfisa Pismeniuk and Mats Ippach, Atelier Nord, March 22 2025
CLUVEX (Climate University for Virtual Exchanges) Climate Moderator online training program, Univ. of Helsinki, May-October 2024
Words and Worlds: Languages and Ecologies Symposium, Royal Holloway- University of London, UK, March 22, 2024
A familiar veil : the microorganisms that carry our memories, Makery.info, November 6, 2023
A familiar veil, Roscosmoe.org, November 5, 2023
Conference & screening of A familiar veil, Studio éphémère Bioinspire-Muséum, Galerie de botanique, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France, Oct. 7 2023
Down to Earth: The Mapping Session, Bioart Society, Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland: selected participant for soil chromatography workshop led by Sirja Moberg and Aino Johansson, Oct. 31 - Nov. 1, 2022
Irène Joliot-Curie Elementary School, Morsang-sur-Orge, France, PACTE - Académie de Versailles, organized art and ecology workshops for 2 classes of 8-10 year-olds, resulting in a collective installation in the school’s garden, Dec. 2021- June 2022
Masterclass in yeastograms and alternative photography led by Taylor Smith, KulttuuriKauppila Art Centre, Ii, Finland, May 2021
Rencontre Art & Science, Marítima ‘01, GoodPlanet Foundation, Paris, France. October 17, 2020. Presentation of Marítima artists Enrique Ramírez, Marco Godinho, Yann Toma and Taylor Smith
PRESS (SELECTED)
“Art meets Permafrost Science: A successful collaboration” by Gunn Kristin Tjoflot, Dept. of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Norway, April 23, 2025
Opening of the exhibition "A Feeling of Longing That Freezes and Thaws" with Taylor Alaina Liebenstein Smith, Center for Biogeochemistry in the Anthropocene, University of Oslo, Norway, March 2025
“Dette er ukens viktigste utstillingsåpninger : Frost fra nord”, Subjekt, Oslo, Norway, March 2025
“Le végétal dans les bibliothèques du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle” by Louise Glodt-Chauchoy, Alice Laforêt, Alice Lemaire and Florence Tessier, La revue de la BNU, Varia 29, 2024: Cultures Végétales
Art et science. « A familiar veil : les microorganismes qui portent nos souvenirs », BOREA: Laboratoire de biologie des organismes et des écosystèmes aquatiques, MNHN, CNRS, Paris, France
“À Concarneau, les microalgues font revivre nos souvenirs” by Chloé Sartena, Ouest France, October 3, 2023
Habiter l’autre rive, Galerie Mémoire de l’avenir, Paris, France, catalogue d’exposition
Rencontre Art & Science, Marítima ‘01, GoodPlanet Foundation, October 17, 2020. Presentation of Marítima artists Enrique Ramírez, Marco Godinho, Yann Toma and Taylor Smith
Marítima ‘01 : Selected Projects, exhibition catalogue, published October 2020
“Végétal : une exposition dans le parc de Chavaniac-Lafayette : découverte d'un lieu et de trois artistes”, by Pauline Lisowski, Le Corridor de l’art, September 3, 2020
“Des végétaux monumentaux au château”, Antoine Michelet, L’Éveil de la Haute Loire, July 18, 2020
Artwork for conference publication: Vers une anthropologie critique ? Engagement et recherches at the Université Paris 8, Paris, France, March-April, 2018
Opium Philosophie review, artist-writer collaboration : "Plus de lieux, que des flux" with Niklas Plätzer, 2016 edition Les voies de la ville, Paris, France, Feburary, 2016
Studio portrait and group articles published in Côté Paris, Paris and Monocle magazine, London
AWARDS & GRANTS
Diversestipend for nyutdannede kunstnere (Stipend for young artists), Kulturådet (Norwegian Ministry of Culture), Norway, 2025
Talents Contemporains finalist, Fondation François Schneider, Wattwiller, France, 2022
The Puffin Foundation Artist Grant (funding slow travel and residency at the Mustarinda artist residency), 2022
Jack Kramer Memorial Award and scholarship for painting, Boston University, 2014-2015
Living Room Host, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, Massachusetts, 2013
EDUCATION
Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Oslo, Norway, Master of Fine Arts, June 2025
Baltic Analog Lab (BAL) Film School, Riga, Latvia, online experimental film school, January-June 2025
École du Louvre, Paris, France: Master of Arts in Cultural Mediation, September 2017
Boston University, Boston, USA: Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting, Bachelor of Arts in Art History, both May 2015
Courtauld Institute of Art, London, United Kingdom, 10-12/2014 (semester exchange program in Art History)
filmography
A feeling of longing that freezes and thaws, 2024-2025, 9:23 minutes, 16mm transferred to 2K:
Atelier Nord, Oslo, Norvège (March 2025)
A familiar veil, 2021-2023, 39:51 minutes:
Marinarium, Concarneau, France (sept. 2023),
Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (oct. 2023),
Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Norvège (feb 2024).
Le 6b, Saint-Denis, France (exposition collective Circades) (sept. 2022).
'RELICS, PART 1: And, If It’s Still There? (Agave americana), 16:21 minutes, digital 4K, 2022-2023:
Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France (oct. 2023)
A clear cut (we are unmade), 2022, digital 4K, 6:55”. Video-poem made in collaboration with Christopher Alexander Kostritsky Gellert
Colloque Écopoétique — Écologie, poétique, politique, Centre international de poésie Marseille, France, April 2025
Words and Worlds: Languages and Ecologies Symposium, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK, March 22, 2024
Les Bonnes Mères collectif, Marseille, France, Jan. 31, 2024
Les rencontres de la Haute École du Bois et de la Forêt, Guillestre, Hautes-Alpes, France, July 2-8, 2023
Habiter l’autre rive (Nov. 2022) exhibition and EARTH as Event conference: a UNESCO project, Année France-Portugal, Galerie Mémoire de l’Avenir, Paris, France with the artist collective Tramages, June 17, 2022
MUSTARINDA, Hyrynsalmi, Finland, May 30, 2022
Videokunstarkivet, Nasjonalmuseet, Norvège - online viewing platform
Cutting through the garden, 2022, 5:29 minutes, digital 4K, Video-poem made in collaboration with Christopher Alexander Kostritsky Gellert
Écopoétique — Écologie, poétique, politique, Centre international de poésie Marseille, avril 2025
Words and Worlds: Languages and Ecologies Symposium, Royal Holloway, University of London,
The moon is (an upside-down) place, 2021-2022, digital HD, 3:49 minutes
Écopoétique — Écologie, poétique, politique, Centre international de poésie Marseille, April 2025
Habiter l’autre rive (Nov. 2022) exhibition and EARTH as Event conference: a UNESCO project, Année France-Portugal, Galerie Mémoire de l’Avenir, Paris, France with the artist collective Tramages, June 17, 2022
Online viewing: “Place and The Self”, Humanities Arts and Society magazine
Spontaneous Encounters with the Ephemeral and the Senescent, 2021-2022, 7:42 minutes (video installation), digital HD
Chapelle de la Visitation, Brioude, France, exhibition Peaux, Parures, Empreintes, Ar(mue)res, August 20- Sept. 30 2021
KulttuuriKauppila Art Centre, Ii, Finlande, solo exhibition Printing Through the Landscape