About the Artist
AS A WASHINGTON NATIVE, MATT SMITH SPENT THE MAJORITY OF HIS LIFE INSPIRED BY THE LUSH ECOLOGY OF THE PACIFIC AND INLAND NORTHWEST. AFTER GRADUATING FROM THE EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE IN 2014, HE PURSUED A CAREER AS AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST, GARNERING SHOWS, WORKING ON VARIOUS COMMISSIONS, AND PAID HEED TO THE YEARNINGS OF A BUILT UP WANDERLUST. HE BEGAN EXPERIMENTING WITH DIFFERENT IDEAS, AND APPROACHING HIS ART PRACTICE FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES: MAKING HIS DAILY PRACTICE SOMETHING OF AN ADVENTURE.
Inspired by this adventure, the artwork below titled “Orange Sunshine” portrays exuberance and beautifully vibrant colors. Each time you put on this unique pair of socks you’re reminded to live life full of sunniness and cheerfulness and to share that buoyancy of life with others with your smile and kindness. As you go through life and all of its adventures go with passion and purpose. These socks will help you go through all your adventures with style and class. Always ask yourself, where will my feet take me?
His fascination with cultural bridges and liminality drove him deeper into his love for traveling, though from the start, it was nature that was his driving force. A constant thread in his work is the ability for nature to adapt through mutation. It became almost a control variable among the chaos of his practice and ever changing technique.
One of our favorites, “Bauhaus” is instantly eye-catching with wonderful attention to detail and a seemingly never ending story to tell. Simply pleasurable to look at, this fun and detailed artwork is easy to appreciate and a delight to wear.
There are silver linings in the heavy presence of humankind on this planet, and most are hidden in nature’s strange ability to mutate. Through traveling, he’s seen firsthand the tremendous impact humankind has had on the living, changing planet. He believes the future of Earth’s animal and plant kingdoms could possibly be bleak in ways, but hopeful that adaptation and mutation will kick in, making things anew, as in the fruits and flowers of Fukushima, presently.
In 2014, Matt traveled extensively throughout Southeast Asia on an Anthropology/Photography contract sponsored by TESC. He spent a little over one month in each of four countries, allowing time for full immersion. Buddhist and Hindu artwork has fascinated him from a young age, and continues to influence his work aesthetic today. He recently explored Southern Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala, where he fell in love with the slow, relaxed, and ultra-vibrant island culture of the Caribbean. His long-term goals include traveling for mural work, enlivening the storm-torn islands of the bahamas through home repair and mural installation, and exhibiting and networking afar.
He has always had a passion for curating and hosting large-scale events, and has organized multiple group art shows. His current objective is to explore the potential of bringing artists with similar vision into the same physical space, creating a collective of like-minded individuals, continuing to pursue large-scale murals both locally and around the globe, and obtaining an MFA for a future in teaching.
Thank you for viewing Artist Matt Smith’s “Art Socks” collection, we look forward to showcasing more of his amazing works of ART!
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Created with images by Skitterphoto - "brushes painter work shop"