Amy Smyth is a printmaker, specialising mainly in Screenprinting and Cyanotypes. Amy's work is mostly based around imagery she takes whilst travelling and the surrounding environment she encounters whilst studying in Belfast. Amy focuses on interesting architecture in cities and interior spaces with geometric features that are usually overlooked. She has a keen interest in observing how light interacts with the places and spaces she documents. Amy blends digital photography and editing software with the analogue process of printmaking to create colourful, often somewhat abstract prints.
The main overarching idea in Amy's work is a layered, differing architecture. The visual mixture of different architectural styles in Belfast intrigues her as it presents the city as evolving and ever-changing. The theory of the Anthropocene connects to this interest of Amy's as it discusses the never-ending cycle of renovation and degradation in urban landscapes as a result of human impact and reckless abandonment of our environment.
Process plays a big role in how Amy communicates her ideas in her work. She uses the technical process of CMYK screen printing to physically manifest this theme of layers. Another idea Amy explores in her work is how to make spaces abstract to the point of unfamiliarity. She does this by misaligning the placement of screenprint layers, creating positive and negative space by editing out certain aspects of the structures, and by filling in negative space with detailed line art screenprint layers. Furthermore, Amy explores combining Screenprinting with cyanotype, as this is another manifestation of the theme of layers.
An artist that Amy is heavily inspired by is Ria Czerniak-LeBov. She is influenced by Ria's belief in the importance of being present as we navigate the world, as she finds herself noticing and observing the world around her daily. Amy is intrigued by the way in which Ria guides the viewers' eyeline with purposeful, playful angles and perspectives that create interesting compositions. Amy often gathers her imagery through the theory of Psychogeography, which is defined as an unplanned, spontaneous journey through an unknown urban landscape in which the individual has no mapping or motive for movement. She often uses this technique while capturing cities and interior spaces, as she lets herself be drawn by intrigue to find these overlooked places that would be missed otherwise.