Photo Flash: THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME by Erin Smith at Amy Li Projects

With recurring themes of life and mortality, Australian painter Erin Smith's exhibition at Amy Li Projects, The Right Place At The Right Time, marks the progress she's made as an artist since the last time she was shown by gallerist Amy Li, who says Smith has been focusing on creating backgrounds first, and then adding images on the foreground.

Check out some of the projects below!

From colorful abstract expressionist portraits to more fully realized renderings, Smith's creative commentary ranges from satire to mockery. Her works in oil are as evocative as those in acrylic/ink/enamel spray paint and the juxtaposition of light washes and heavily layered paint reinforces contrast in many of her works.

Smith showed at Amy Li Projects in January of this year. She has exhibited in at the National Grid Gallery, Sydney, and was a finalist for the Clayton UTZ Art Prize, Brisbane and for the Cliftons Art Prize, Brisbane. Smith studied at the New York Studio School and received a Bachelor of Design Arts from the Australian Academy of Design.

The artist's body of work draws from a multitude of sources, including the human figure, cultural iconography and the reexamination of locations once visited. She says she strives to find beauty in what may initially be perceived as mundane or even melancholic.

The opening for Erin Smith's The Right Place At The Right Time exhibition will take place Thursday, September 10 from 7-9pm. Amy Li Projects is located at 166 Mott Street, New York, NY 10013. Gallery hours are Weds-Sun 12-6pm and by appointment: 347-981-2715. www.amy-li.com