Today we’d like to introduce you to Zack Smithey.
Hi Zack, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
Of all factors in my life, creativity has been the only constant. I’ve been an obsessive creator my entire life. Growing up, and throughout my early career, I wasn’t concerned with communicating any messages with my art. I didn’t feel like the time was right. I was more concerned with broadening and sharpening my skills. What’s the point of trying to convey a message if your skills are inadequate? Nobody’s going to read a book by an author who hasn’t mastered spelling and grammar. Now, I consider myself an interdisciplinary artist, capable of creating art in almost any medium or technique. After decades of studying the process, it has become a central theme of the majority of my work, the art of creating art… the ‘how’ instead of the ‘what’. Traditionally, it has been frowned upon for an artist to dabble in multiple styles of art. Galleries prefer focus and dependability from their artists. They want you to be that artist that does that one thing. It makes it easier for them to present you to their collectors… “I think you would love this artist. Their style and your taste are a perfect match.” The more styles you introduce, the more difficult it becomes to package you into a neat little box to sell to collectors. Lucky for me, I don’t give a shit about all that. I didn’t become a full-time artist so I could fit into other people’s boxes. I need full autonomy and freedom in order to produce the best work. If you don’t like what I’m doing, then keep scrolling. The internet and social media have disrupted the art world in favor of artists. It’s easier than ever for like-minded individuals to connect without the approval of the gatekeepers. With constant drive and proper marketing, anyone can find their audience.
Get used to the fact that life itself is hard, gaining traction and finding success is hard, finding inspiration and motivation is hard, everything is hard. I’ve always been a competitive person and a problem solver. I see difficulties, not as roadblocks, but as challenges, which are opportunities for problem-solving, leading to motivation. Look at the world as a game to be conquered, and then reverse engineer the game in a way that allows you to tap into your motivation to solve problems and achieve your goals. It’s easier to change your state of mind than to change the world, adaptation is the key to survival.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The ultimate path to success is full of dead-ends along the way. Dead-ends are necessary. Without them, we’d be asking the question “what if…?” a lot more often. Through experimentation, trial-and-error, and failure; we apply what we learned from the dead-ends to reinforce the path to long-term success. Enjoy the journey, learn from all of your experiences, even the dead-ends.
Challenges – athletes don’t compete because it’s easy. They do it because it’s challenging. The challenge is the motivating factor. I apply this to every aspect of my life. I seek out challenges to motivate and elevate myself, turning my weaknesses into my strengths.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m an interdisciplinary process artist working in many different styles and materials, focusing more on the “how” than the “what”. The exploration into the process leads me down many different pathways stylistically.
I think one thing that sets me apart from others has been perpetual drive and motivation over long periods of time (decades, in my case), drive to be highly productive, drive to keep learning, growing, evolving, and expanding into new markets. Talent without drive means nothing. I’m trying to run a marathon at 100-meter dash speeds. I want the arc of my life to be an exponential curve upward, from birth to death. At this point, after decades of working 7 days a week in the studio, it feels unnatural to spend a day not accomplishing something.
We are a culmination of our experiences. Everything you’ve experienced until this moment makes you who you are. If you want to become something you have to dive headfirst into that thing, let it wash over you, drown in it until it becomes a part of your essence. It takes a full-time effort over the course of years. You can’t expect full-time results from part-time effort.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My grandmother was an artist. In elementary school, when she would babysit me, she would set up still-lifes on the kitchen table. We would each draw/paint the still-life and then set our pieces next to each other and discuss the composition and details. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was receiving and participating in college-level critiques at a young age. This gave me a solid foundation to build upon as I ventured into a life of creativity.
Contact Info:
- Email: smitheygallery@gmail.com
- Website: www.zacksmithey.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/zacksmithey
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/zack.smithey.3
- Other: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRXEHqTR/
Image Credits
Gussie Barnidge
Spicewood Photography
