Spill, 3D Collage, Tsunami in a Matchbox, Selected for Edinburgh Collage Collective’s Matchbox open Call 2020 “Strike A Light”, 36 x 27 x 2 cm, 2020, £500
Umwelt, Acrylic Inks and Liquid Pen on Paper, 64.5 x 55 x 2.5 cm, 2018, £1,200 
Kaleidoscope, Acrylic Inks and Liquid Pen on Paper, 64.5 x 55 x 2.5 cm, 2018, £1,200
“I build fictitious worlds using everyday objects. I work mostly with maps, reordering them into new worlds. Before assembling the work I devise a set of rules to follow & from then on I become machine-like in my adherence to them. Decisions are made, but not ones that compromise the rule set. “The idea becomes a machine that makes the art”, Sol LeWitt
The work is labour-intensive, giving the impression of a kind of natural development, where rocks & land are slowly formed, or reformed. As each piece takes shape it is clear to see one world breaking down as the other emerges. I see my practice as a series of quasi-scientific investigations, contrasting installation and paper based work.“
Movements in Space, Hand Cut Watercolour Paper, 65 x 51 x 3 cm, 2020, £950 
The Garden, Collage, Hand Cut Triangles from Phaidon’s small book ’The Garden’, 39 x 39 cm, 2021, £190 
Knot, Map Series, Hand Cut Paper, 35 x 48 x 3 cm, POA
Joni Smith received a degree in Fine Art Textiles from Loughborough University (2007) before completing a Masters degree in Textile Culture from Norwich University of the arts, the same year. Such lengthy background in textile based disciplines now aids Joni in her use of paper based materials, that being predominantly maps which she collects on her travels, of which include a 7500 km cycling trip from Norwich to Croatia and back in 2015. “We used a combination of GPS and paper maps to find our way through 14 EU countries; sometimes we had no map at all. We enjoyed a kind of slow travel, where one landscape would seamlessly merge into another.”
Joni Smith produces her installations through the intricate manipulation of fragments from maps and atlases. Before assembling the works Joni devises a set of rules to follow and from then on she becomes machine-like in her adherence to them. Through this labour intensive process, as each piece takes shape it is clear to see one world breaking down as another parallel one emerges. By dissecting and reassembling everyday objects and subverting their original intensions Joni is creating a new landscape and new way of seeing.
Despite a playful nature residing in the artists work, which she likens to childhood fantasies and the creation of dens; home to new worlds and adventures, there is also a deeply political message to Joni Smith’s work. She explores ideas surrounding borders and division; questioning the current political climates and inviting viewers to reevaluate their positions, especially as we enter a new technological era, where the idea of a ‘map’ is being reworked, and renovated into portable, downloadable GPS systems which tell us the route we should be navigating.
Joni has had success in her ever expanding list of exhibitions which include solo shows at Targetfollow at Center Point, London (2009), the Fairhurst Gallery (2017) titled DISlocations as well as an installation at the Norwich playhouse (2019). The artist has also worked in an array of residency programmes, including the role of artist in residence at Wymondham College, Wymondham.