ARTIST BIO

As a young child, born and raised in Washington, DC, I had two loves; art and basketball. As a child of the inner city, the outcome of my future was determined by how I spent my time. When I wasn’t playing basketball, I was keeping myself busy with a sketchbook. I strived to busy the body and the mind.
I was blessed with the opportunity to attend the Duke Ellington School of Arts in Washington, DC. It was there that my passion for visual arts was cultivated and explored. While studying at Duke Ellington, my love for visual arts blossomed more fondly into portrait art. While exploring this new found love, I oftentimes found myself in the hot seat with my teachers when I could be found drawing my classmates instead of focusing on my assignments. I would get lost in the expression and tones of the human face and wanted to archive it on paper.

I found that art was almost often my saving grace. From childhood through adulthood, it was the one thing that gave me peace and faith, no matter how difficult life had become. I even look back at photographs of myself and produce self-portraits based on those periods of my life; remembering joy and pain, and knowing that my brush strokes would memorialize these memories.

In the present day, some of my favorite subjects, like Malcolm X (El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, respectfully) and Marvin Gaye, are those who have struggled and overcome and inspired social change. Even as I grow older, I find myself drawn to images of global significance, often feeling connected to the imagery of children and families in Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East, as seen in some of my more recent work. It is the intricacies and nuances of human expression, struggle, and emotion that moves me in my art.

In early adult years, I also found a strong love for music. Being able to channel all of life’s experiences into something positive and productive was paramount. In addition to visual art, music and writing became that outlet. I now enjoy creating music and art compilations; putting rhythm to what I felt when I completed a new project.

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ARTIST STATEMENT

Same as above.

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Patrick T. Smith

Washington, DC, USA