JULIANA IRENE SMITH (b. 1977 San Francisco, USA, lives in Helsinki, Finland) is a half-American, half-Iranian who works with traumas caused by sexual violence through material memory, text, photography and installation. The humorous undertone that resonates with her works act as a small shield of protection from the weight of the topic.

From 2009–2012 she lived and worked in Ramallah, Palestine. Prior to permanently settling in Finland in 2017, Smith lived and worked in Cape Town, South Africa, where she co-founded the artist-run non-profit organisation ALMA MARTHA. She holds a BFA in Photography from the Parsons School of Design in New York and a Master in Public Art from the University of Applied Arts and Sciences in Lucerne, Switzerland. During her studies, she also spent time at the Glasgow School of Art and Witswatersrand University in Johannesburg.

As well as Catalysti she is also a member of the Photographic Artists in Finland and Kiila. In 2023 she had a solo exhibition entitled, Lactose Intolerant, at Photographic Gallery Hippolyte in Helsinki and has been working with the curator Julia Fidder on ongoing projects about grief.