Identity Stretch examines the fluid nature of selfhood and the shifting roles individuals inhabit across social and emotional contexts. The work considers how identity is continuously shaped through interaction, expectation, and adaptation, resisting the notion of a fixed or singular self.

Rather than presenting identity as stable, the sculpture holds it in a state of tension. Forms appear extended and pulled, suggesting the pressure exerted by social constructs and cultural codes. These stretches become sites where different aspects of the self surface, recede, or coexist.

Identity Stretch proposes identity as a dynamic condition, shaped by both internal impulse and external demand. In doing so, the work reflects on how multiplicity, rather than coherence, may be the defining characteristic of contemporary experience.

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Each of Smith’s sculptures is accompanied by an editioned print that functions as its “DNA blueprint”, generated through the artist’s sculpting and scanning process. Printed as a fine art Giclée on Hahnemühle Photo Rag, one of the most archival papers available, the print operates both as documentation and as an independent artwork, preserving the sculpture’s essence in two-dimensional form.

For Smith, the print is an essential extension of the sculpture. Through digital processing, the form moves between dimensions, existing as both physical presence and flattened image. This pairing reflects her ongoing inquiry into how identity now operates across physical and digital realms, where presence is increasingly distributed, and a digital counterpart has become integral to how objects and individuals are seen and understood.

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