Di Smith

SOTA Selective

I am an artist and gallery owner and am in awe of, and inspired by, creative people whom I am lucky enough to meet and interact with almost every day.

"If I had a wish for the world it would be to have every person, create something.

In order to grow, to learn, to understand, to respect and value, we need to create.
I pick up things, almost every day, – wood, metal, seeds, stones, rusty bits, bones, teeth, glass, feathers, washers, nails, boxes, tins, wire, and bits and pieces I find every day where ever I am.

I cannot explain what attracts me to each piece, perhaps it is the shape, their rust, their history, their essence or just that they once existed in another time and place.

Life, death and everything in between can all be expressed in materials like drift wood, bones, rusty metal, discarded brick, glass, keys, teeth, seeds ……

I live with my collection for sometime before I have the impulse to create something. They lie together in hand-woven baskets from Zimbabwe, they mingle, and as we live together they start to tell me their story.

When I put them together they seem to interact in a way I don’t always understand, yet feel deeply about, their histories come together and make something new.

Somehow this newness from oldness puts it all into perspective for me.
Some of my sculpture incorporates new, (like ceramic), with found objects and often has an element of organic and inorganic.

My painting is usually an expression of current events in my life, things I feel strongly about. I am a self-taught artist and always experiment with a combination of media including paint, wood stain, threads, bees-wax, collage, photography, building materials etc. I love to incorporate technology into the work and so make use of photography, Photoshop, digital printing. All I really want is to continuously get lost in the process and I would love my work to evoke some thought and comment by the viewer." Di

biography

Selected Exhibitions:

2009 Spier Contemporary

interview

Which new trends or South African artists do you find inspiring at the moment?
I notice that there is a move in the interior design/décor industry to move away from decorative to fine art in both residential and corporate environments.

Which South African deceased artist do you most admire and why?
Cecil Skotnes. His work is timeless. He found his passion in woodcuts and honed and explored the skill. He continuously explored his environment, physical and political as was evidenced in his work. He was a passionate teacher who launched many black artists and so contributed significantly to the diversity of the South African art scene and all this at a difficult time in South Africa’s history.

Which exhibition that you have visited made the greatest impact on you and why?
I go to many local exhibitions and no one event has made a huge impact on me, almost all of them do! Cape Town has an amazing collection of creatives.

Where do you get your inspiration for your work?
Mostly from what I see and experience each day of my life in the city and in nature. I retain mental images and when the time is right I combine those images with bits and pieces I have collected .

Do you have any rituals or habits involving your art-making that you can tell us about?
Nothing at all in particular, but solitude, music and a glass of red is usually involved!

What do you like most about being an artist?
That as a late starter I have learned to open my mind and fearlessly express my thoughts, feelings, ideas and experiences in a wide variety of ways that are non verbal.

How do you handle bad days when you experience artist's block?
I have not experienced that yet, but if I did I am sure I would turn to nature.

What is your greatest achievement as an artist to date?
Just that I do art is my achievement

Do you feel that you want to make a difference to the world or in people's lives? If yes, how?
No, I do not set out to make a difference to anyone or anything, but if my work evokes some response and makes someone think differently about that creativity then that is a good thing. I wish for everyone to be creative, it would change the world.

What are your plans for the coming year?
To continue learning and growing and expressing.