Paige Smith prefers to express her point of view through 3D paper sculptures instead of traditional paint. Her finished works represent mineral formations like crystals, quartz, and especially geodes. But instead of finding these gems in nature, she creates them in some of the oldest neighborhoods in L.A.
“Design is a means to an end,” Smith says. “An effective design creates a bridge between an idea and a recipient. The key term is effective. The creative challenge lies in finding a design solution that doesn’t just hang there but is an active conduit for communication.”
Nowadays people’s attention spans are short, and therein lies the point of her art. Like geodes and other mineral formations that may be found on a hike in the mountains, her paper sculptures are meant to be unexpected treasures. Smith says she understands that many people will not notice her art when they walk along the crowded streets of Echo Park, the Arts District or Abbot Kinney Boulevard. In fact, several of these paper geodes have already been dismantled or thrown away, and one fell victim to the rain. Their fate is not that different from the objects we see in nature as we walk along a hiking trail – but the memory and photographs live on. Smith maintains an online map for those who wish to hunt for the existing ones.
+ Paige Smith
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For two months artist Paige Smith has brightened up boring old buildings across Los Angeles by replacing broken bricks with sparkling paper geodes. From the Arts District on the edge of downtown LA to Venice along the coast, Smith has tucked objects from her street art project in nondescript walls and pipes. Some are easy to see on corners; others are few inches above the ground and easy to miss. A few just mask the mortar between a few bricks.
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Geode #2 is in a pipe, located in downtown Los Angeles. It was located at 805 Traction Avenue in the Arts District.
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What was once a dismantled telephone booth now beams with an amethyst colored paper geode by Paige Smith. This one is located in downtown Los Angeles.
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Geode #5 once touched an Echo Park sidewalk. Smith says she understands that many people will not notice her art when they walk along the neighborhood’s crowded streets. This one has disappeared.
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A view of Geodes #6 and #7, Daily Dose Cafe, Downtown Los Angeles. Paige Smith prefers to express her point of view through 3D paper sculptures instead of traditional paint.
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A close up of Geode #7, on the wall of the Daily Dose Cafe in downtown Los Angeles. According to Smith, “An effective design creates a bridge between an idea and a recipient.”
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Geode #8, embedded in a wall of the popular Daily Dose Cafe, is easy to miss. But to Smith, the fact that many will overlook this paper geode is one of the points of her work.
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Geode #1 is located at 973 East 3rd Street in the Los Angeles Art District. She placed this geode just a couple feet above street level.
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Geode #10 sits plunked in a wall on the facade of an old brick building in the Arts District. The once derelict neighborhood of warehouses, on the edge of downtown L.A., has become a haven for artists and musicians.
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Smith working on one of her paper Geodes. Like geodes and other mineral formations that may be found on a hike in the mountains, her paper sculptures are meant to be unexpected treasures.
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