Yasmin Smith: Elemental Life opens at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia 

The Manchester Ship Canal, Sydney Harbour, and the waters of the Seine reveal their hidden histories in Yasmin Smith: Elemental Life, a new exhibition that has recently opened at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Australia).

Yasmin Smith: Elemental Life is the most significant exhibition to date for Australian artist Yasmin Smith (b.1984, Dharug Country/Sydney) running until Monday 8 June 2026.The exhibition brings together new and recent ceramic sculptural installations that explore the deep interconnections between human and environmental histories.

Yasmin Smith is known for her ambitious ceramic installations created through a combination of field research, community collaboration, and technical experimentation. Since 2014, Smith has developed a growing archive of site-specific glazes made by burning plant and mineral materials. These glazes serve as chemical records of place, offering what Smith describes as an “alternative knowledge system” for understanding landscapes.

As Smith notes, ‘I think it’s important to see there are other living things on this planet that have the ability to communicate information, the ability to absorb things and retain reservoirs of history. We can learn something that might help us be more closely connected to the Earth.’

The exhibition features the Australian premiere of two new works that continue Smith’s research into toxicity, pollution and mass extinction events, and how this might be articulated and understood through ceramic glazes and installations.

The artist has created two site specific wall works especially for the exhibition,Yellow Block and Ash Grey, made with customised paints derived from Hawkesbury sandstone and coal ash from the Lake Macquarie region respectively.

Yasmin Smith: Elemental Life continues MCA Australia’s commitment to showcasing the work of Australian artists at all stages of their career. The exhibition has been curated by Jane Devery, MCA Senior Curator, Exhibitions and Manya Sellers, Associate Curator, Collection.

The Museum Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Australia) presents Yasmin Smith: Elemental Life on Level 1 Galleries, from 3 October 2025 – 8 June 2026.

Yasmin Smith (b.1984, Sydney) works in the medium of ceramics, producing installations through a combination of field research, community collaboration and studio work. Her practice explores the history of different environments by sourcing materials in situ to create sculptural forms and ash glazes that reveal unique chemical traces. In recent years she has produced a number of large-scale works exploring the history, ecology and geology of specific sites.

Smith’s process for these works was influenced by time spent at Hermannsburg in Central Australia in 2014, where she assisted the local community of potters to create a ceramic and sound installation exploring the material culture of the mission period. This formative experience catalysed a shift in her practice towards an ‘archaeological’ method – an approach also informed by Smith’s earlier participation in the excavation of a site at Clunia, Penalba de Castro in Spain in 2010.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA Australia) presents, collects and engages with the art of our time. Guided by the principles of belonging, connection and influence, we aim to be the defining platform for contemporary art and ideas in Australia and beyond. Located on Sydney Harbour at Tallawoladah, a home to stories, art and culture for over 65,000 years, we connect the widest possible public to contemporary art through exhibitions, events, creative learning and access programs. Our evolving Collection of over 4,700 artworks is the only public collection in Australia dedicated to the work of living artists, with over a third represented by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. As an independent, not-for-profit organisation, MCA Australia raises over 80% of its revenue each year through donations and commercial activities to deliver its artistic and engagement programs.