Vicki Smith’s paintings inhabit a state of transition. Swimmers drift through luminous water, reflections dissolve into light, and familiar landscapes become places of quiet contemplation.

Opening at Bau-Xi Gallery in Vancouver from June 27 to July 15, 2026, Smith’s upcoming solo exhibition continues her long exploration of water, reflection, and the human figure. Yet these new works also suggest something more elusive: a fascination with transition itself, with the quiet spaces where change begins to take shape.

Swimming Through Uncertainty

For many years, swimmers have been central to Smith’s practice. They appear gliding through pools, emerging from water, or floating within luminous landscapes. While the subject may seem straightforward, the paintings are rarely about sport or physical activity. Instead, the swimmer becomes a metaphor for movement through life.

During a recent conversation about the exhibition, Smith described the works as existing “in between.” It wasn’t a concept she planned from the beginning, but one that gradually emerged through the painting process. That sense of being between destinations gives the exhibition much of its emotional resonance. These are images of transition rather than arrival.

Water as a Place of Reflection

Water has always played a significant role in Smith’s work, and not simply because of its visual beauty. Reflections, shifting light, and changing surfaces create endless opportunities for observation. More importantly, they offer a language for exploring perception itself.

Previous exhibitions focused almost entirely on the water, sometimes removing the figure altogether. Smith admitted feeling nervous about that decision, wondering who she was as an artist without the swimmers that had become such a recognizable part of her practice. Yet those paintings revealed that the energy of the figure could remain present even in absence. The swimmer, as one observer noted, had simply passed through.

A Practice Shaped by Patience

One of the most revealing aspects of Smith’s interview was her discussion of meditation. For more than three decades, meditation has been a regular part of her life, beginning through yoga and eventually becoming a lasting practice. While her paintings are not overtly spiritual, the influence is easy to recognize.

There is a patience to the work that feels connected to that mindset. Rather than forcing meaning onto the viewer, Smith creates images that invite contemplation. The paintings unfold slowly. The longer one spends with them, the more subtle relationships emerge between figure, landscape, reflection, and atmosphere.

Letting the Work Speak

Smith also believes that art functions best when it leaves room for interpretation. Rather than delivering a fixed story, a successful artwork becomes a place where viewers can bring their own experiences and questions. In her words, the most rewarding works are those that continue revealing something new over time.

That philosophy feels especially relevant in this exhibition. The paintings resist easy explanations. They are neither purely figurative nor purely landscape-based. Instead, they inhabit a space between categories, allowing ambiguity to become part of the experience rather than something to resolve.

One of the most appealing qualities of Vicki Smith’s practice is her willingness to follow where the work leads. During the interview, she spoke about beginning with one idea only to discover something entirely different as the paintings developed. What started as an interest in softer, more monochromatic swimmers gradually evolved into a body of work centered on transition and transformation.

That openness gives the exhibition a sense of discovery. Rather than presenting conclusions, these paintings feel like markers along an ongoing journey. They invite viewers to pause, reflect, and consider the spaces between one moment and the next. And in a world that often demands immediate answers, that may be exactly what makes them so compelling.