for some time, but I see the influences of the East

even in our first show, specifically the influence of Chinese

culture.”

Smith is a calm, compact man who exudes a certain strength, and like the stone he shapes to his dreams and desires, he looks like he'll weather a lot of change. The sculptor, who already has multiple responsibilities, went on to open the Beijing Tomorrow Gallery in the Pingod complex in Beijing's south east quarter. Beijing Tomorrow is a gallery with a timeshare apartment that the artists he represents carry the cost of, plus a social center. When he is out of Beijing the gallery and its promotional activities are run by two arts-educated and capable Chinese managers. His  full, tenured professorship at the New York Institute of Technology, and a family plot in Sonoma County in California where he grows lavender and keeps bees to make lavender honey, are two other things that keep the energetic sculptor busy. Then there is his sculpting, inspired by computer-manipulations of images driven by mathematical principles. What he is working on now is scaling down his meditations on the wonder of manifest and inherent organic forms into jewelry-sized pieces.

The influences unleashed by the Digital Arts Project he views as a phenomenon that has just begun. Of the prospects for Western artists in China he notes “There are a lot of public buildings in China and of course public art is in demand”. But beyond that, Beijing Tomorrow represents artists that Smith knows and has worked with, all of whom are “interested in this great marriage of art and science. We are engaged in discussion about how and where to make CAM technology available here. China is very interested in this whole notion of design by computer and computer-driven manufacturing.” Presumably it fits with economic necessity - meeting China's challenge to scale the value-chain in mass or multiple production services. What started with personal introductions of sculptor friends to Dingli has mothered more than mere  economic back-scratching.  “We broke in at a time when the interest in Western art was just starting. Of course the influences in painting have gone back and forth for some time, but I see the influences of the East even in our first show, specifically the influence of Chinese culture.”