Paper Prototype
Kim Smith Claudel
October 4-26, 2025
Opening Reception
Saturday, September 6, 5-8 pmOpen Hours
Sat-Sun 12-5 pmdrop in or by appointment
Email info@carnationcontemporary.com
to schedule a visit
EXHIBITION
Carnation Contemporary presents new work by Kim Smith Claudel for her second solo show with the gallery. In Paper Prototype, Smith Claudel creates large-scale constructions from humble materials that question stability and celebrate experimentation. Paper Prototype is a minimal viable prompt. Still figuring it out, but committing to the essential with immediacy. A building block of our nonlinear sequence, strung together on this process [progress?] on the verge of being complete…or collapsing. Then it can be free to evolve, or to drift away. Paper, simultaneously strong and fragile. Light and flimsy, organic, maleable, bendable, twistable, tearable, sewible. A medium for ideas to last unwillingly, contradicting preservation.ARTIST
Kim Smith Claudel is an interdisciplinary artist based in Portland, OR, whose work intersects painting, sculpture, installation, and performance through a wide range of media. Smith Claudel's work has been exhibited internationally, including shows in Japan and Sweden, as well as throughout the United States. Recent solo exhibitions include The Painting Center (New York 2025), Mt Hood Community College (Portland, 2025), and Carnation Contemporary (Portland 2024); with upcoming solo exhibits at The Vestibule (Seattle 2025) and The Corvallis Arts Center (Corvallis, OR 2026). She is an active member of WAVE Contemporary artist collective and a recipient of the 2025 Career Opportunity Grant from the Oregon Arts Commission and Ford Family Foundation. Last October she was awarded an artist residency at Building 5. She holds an MS in Media Arts and Sciences from the MIT Media Lab, as well as an MFA from the School of Visual Arts.kimsmithclaudel.com
IG: @kimsmithstudio