Trying to recognize absence

At Rhonda Smith’s show, “Undiscovered Country,’’ at Kingston Gallery, Boston, Oct. 29-Dec. 1. She is based in Boston and Biddeford Pool, Maine.

The gallery says “‘Undiscovered Country’ derives from various influences: sea tales, myths, poems, industrial and natural elements, medieval imagery, photographs, and contemporary statistics. These influences emerge during the creation of each piece. Rhonda Smith relies on the tactile process of shaping, molding, and assembling materials to give form to her ideas. Initial concepts often remain skeletal or merely impulsive, while the true essence of a piece develops through the tactile process of listening to what her hands transmute. 

”The sculptures and installations, with their broad mix of materials and techniques, represent both disappearance and appearance—experiences that are simultaneously deeply satisfying and fragile; Will humans disappear and nature survive? Is our possibility now in recognizing absence? Smith remains increasingly aware that, in the face of crumbling realities, only her openness to the undiscovered will have significance. For Smith, this is what art can achieve: guiding us towards new ground.’’