Christopher Smith was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1958, and currently lives and works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Detroit area, known for its economic and social upheavals of the ’60s and ’70s, gave him the background to see how the memory of artistic form survives even the hard effects of time. From the sacred to the secular, the human figure has always interested him. All of his pieces are unique creations, which he models from life. “Every time the model poses,” he says, “I am amazed at the redolence of the human form.”

Christopher Smith always intended to be a sculptor. He studied sculpture at the University of Michigan with Louis Marinaro and Jon Rush. Upon completing a BFA degree he opened an independent studio. His theme has consistently been the figure, in solitary or in combination with other figures in compositional narratives. He sculpts mostly in clay and direct plaster, and casts in uncommon materials. Since the mid 1980s his figures have been exhibited extensively in North America, the UK, and Sweden.

He has assisted sculptor Stephen Robin on several public commissions, and has worked with commercial and ornamental interests, as a sculptor and fabricator of forms found in nature. One contribution he has made to these efforts is a feeling for space and scale. He has sculpted for film, public monuments, religious buildings, and corporate art.

Christopher Smith’s sculptures are in private and public collections including The Seven Bridges Foundation, CT, the Woodmere Art Museum, PA and Brookgreen Gardens, SC. His sculptures have been exhibited in public buildings and gardens, including Park Avenue Atrium, New York, and Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina. In 2003, he received the teaching portion of the inaugural Frank Gasparro Memorial Fellowship award of the Fleisher Art Memorial, administered by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In 2008 he received the Dene M. Louccheim Faculty Fellowship Award from the Fleisher Art Memorial. In 2010 he received the the Lillian Heller Curator's Award, Chesterwood, for his sculpture 4PM, Richard Klein, Exhibition Director of The Aldrich Contemporary Museum of Art, was the curator and juror. Christopher exhibits with the independent curator, Eileen Tognini and is represented by Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.