For his capstone exhibition, Saulee Smith didn’t set out just to paint faces—he painted people as they are, as they remember, and as they hope to be seen. The artist, graduating from his the University of West Georgia’s fine arts program, roots his practice in something deceptively simple: listening.
In his latest series, Saulee interviews his subjects before ever picking up a brush. He asks about their lives—childhood memories, relationships, habits—and from those stories, he paints a portrait. Not just of the body, but of the person as whole. The audio of each interview plays alongside the final painting, inviting viewers to see the subject through Saulee’s eyes, through their own voice.
This interest in identity and perception was sparked during an early critique during his senior capstone exhibition, when a professor told Saulee he “didn’t look like where he came from.” It was a moment that stayed with him—not because it was offensive, but because it was honest. He agreed. His upbringing emphasized appearance and composure. His parents had taught him that how you present yourself shapes how the world treats you. But that standard left out something crucial- complexity, history and humanity.
He asked himself: How do we bridge the gap between self-perception and how others see us to foster deeper human connection and understanding?
From this question came a body of work that opens quiet but intimate dialogues—between artist and subject, and between art and viewer. His portraits aren’t just likenesses- they’re reflections. Sometimes even confessions.
Saulee has had one solo exhibition and participated in a few group shows. This October, he’ll be showing new work alongside Emily Boatright in Suwanee—a collaboration that merges their distinct styles into something layered and unexpected.
An early breakthrough came after a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, where Saulee began to shift from posed figures to exploring the power of candid moments. The exhibition at the MET included rotary phones which listeners would use to listen to pre-recordings of poets, authors, actors, creatives, or their relatives— in conversation about their life or fragments of interviews— along side the work that they created during their life.
Museum patrons ranging from teenagers to people well off into their middle age, all sat and had one sided conversations with the past. There were two children actively engaging with the past and the bizarre visual inspired Saulee to create A Conversation Through Time.
The piece focuses on capturing people in unguarded moments—subjects are unposed, with no direct eye contact. Although they weren’t the ones interviewed like the previous piece, they reflect Saulee’s audience: people who never met the subjects but come to understand their stories through the art.
Other pieces, such as Fragments of Memories, are born from deep personal interviews. The piece features Patricia, his mother’s neighbor, a woman who has a lifetime’s worth of travel behind her. In her home, Patricia has a photo wall of all the places she’s been with her husband in her youth, and it’s depicted in the piece through the inclusion of a German mountain landscape, Hawaiian birds, and berry bushes from Vermont.
Throughout her house, she also had photograph portraits of herself all the way from the age of about five. The style and size changes through the time, but in all the photographs she wears a teal blue top. During her interview, she was wearing the same teal colored top, she hadn’t noticed the similarity until Saulee pointed it out. She attributed her recent choice in color coordination to a teal stone ring that she never takes off because it was given to her to her by her later son. Perhaps she subconsciously matches the clothes to her prized ring.
Overall the piece had Patricia in a top that she wore in a photograph of her from her 20’s paired with a contemporary skirt giving her a clean elegant look. The off-the-shoulder top emphasizes her necklace and the brightness of the two-toned combination. The details tell her story—her late son’s ring, her thoughtful style, and the quiet emotion beneath her elegance all reveal Patricia’s life.
Similarly, Pearl of the Pacific, was inspired by his sister and shows homage to Asian history month. He reflects on cultural identity and perception of Asian women as he set out to portray Asian femininity not as fetishized or exotic– not as the femme fatal or the ‘other’– but as grounded, complex, and powerful.
His sister who is Black and Korean is portrayed as a regal figure, adorned in a garment inspired by traditional Korean stitching and rice-farming region patterns which represent age, status and history, in a fashion illustration style. It focuses on imperialism, not as the dictatorial version often thought of but with the royalty and elegance most often mocked or used as costume in the west.
Pearls prized worldwide come from Asian Pacific waters and the cranes are a personal symbol for his sister but they represent wisdom, heritage, and strength. Even though she is his half sister, he see’s her as just his sister, “I got the full sister treatment growing up, she deserves the full sister title.”
Connecting to the previous piece, Quiet Contemplation was also inspired by his sister and is a physical depiction of her. During an opening ceremony for a Black History Month mural he made, he was doing a live painting session with his sister as a model. After coming home, his sister changed and simply sat on the couch thinking about things happening in her life.
Saulee saw her sitting there in a way that felt real. As the sister that he knows, raw and genuine unlike the posed modeling she was doing early, as the woman that he grew up with and now lives with. He took three photos for reference and the painting that emerged wasn’t about artifice, it was about knowing someone deeply and recognizing when they’re simply being themselves. This portrait, layered over an earlier one, represents a truer version of her- thoughtful, grounded, growing.
Circling back to his style of interview inspired paintings, his mural of his great-grandfather, Reflections of a Legacy, is deeply personal. Robert Joseph Springer is 102 years old and is simply known as grandpa, regardless of anyone’s actual relation to him. Interviewed by Saulee’s aunt, his life unfolds in stories—from childhood to adulthood. The painting is done on steel and the interview can be heard on Saulee’s website. It’s a deeply human tribute to a man whose legacy shaped Saulee more than he realized.
The mural was also one done for Black History month in an effort to do something different while connecting to his current style. Although he didn’t know him, he felt more connected to him than his actual grandfather who left the family. Robert stepped up for his daughter, Saulee’s paternal grandmother, and helped raise her children in moment of need. This piece immortalizes the man that has shaped Saulee’s family in a positive and sweet light.
Not all of Saulee’s works are heavy with meaning. Some, like Reflections of a Wonder, are exercises in joy. They’re experiments with new materials chosen based on the subject and the conversation that sparked the piece. Patricia’s piece for example is done on mirror mounted on a wood panel covered with wallpaper while the one with his great-grandfather is done on steal.
Raised by a house painter and graffiti artist father and an architect mother, Saulee was never discouraged from being creative. They let him pursue art without fear or judgment of how we was going to make money. His sister was his first collaborator—she wrote stories; he illustrated them. He didn’t enjoy reading, but he loved her stories and her characters.
According to Saulee, “Art is an integral part of humanity, it allows us to view history and the future. It allows us to have a voice in the present when theres so much noise around us and I hope that with my art I can start conversations that allow people to connect with one another in different, more intimate and deeper way.”
Katya Ozerkov
Katya Ozerkov is an outgoing content strategist at The Georgia Sun. Despite not being a native Georgian, she has immersed herself in Georgia's vibrant arts scene for several years. As an artist first and foremost, she is passionate about interacting with and fostering connections with artists in the Greater Atlanta metro area and building a supportive creative community.
