Aida Smith is a New Zealand landscape and still life painter who explores the emotional threads woven into everyday spaces and objects.

Based in Kaitoke, just outside Wellington, she works in oils using a solvent-free approach that keeps her practice in harmony with the world she captures. She chooses not to varnish her paintings, preferring the soft and natural finish of oil paint.

Her distinctive artistic language has gained recognition, earning her a place as a finalist in both the 2025 National Contemporary Art Award and the 2025 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award.

CV

Aida Smith (b. 1973, USA)

Exhibitions
2025 AAS25, Muse Gallery, Havelock North
2025 MINI, The Frame Gallery, Auckland
2025 Seedlings, TwentySix, Wellington
2025 National Contemporary Art Awards, Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Museum & Gallery, Hamilton
2025 Academy Prize for Visual Art Exhibition, Tākina, Wellington
2025 New Collectors Group Show, The Frame Gallery, Auckland
2025 MMCA Finalists Exhibition, Te Kōputu a te Whanga a Toi, Whakatāne
2024 Intertwined Narratives,TwentySix, Wellington
2024 Wellington Regional Arts Review, Whirinaki Whare Taonga, Upper Hutt
2024 Glass half full, Deciduus Gallery, Taupo (solo)
2022 Autumn Exhibition, New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington

Awards
2025 finalist National Contemporary Art Award
2025 finalist Molly Morpeth Canaday Award
2024 finalist Wellington Regional Arts Review

Galleries
The Frame Gallery Auckland
Muse Gallery Havelock North
Twentysix Wellington

Instagram
@aidasmithart