Stuart Smith Artist Interview: April

A R T : S T U A R T S M I T H

I make drawings and print plates outside in remote rural sites. Continually returning to the same places, I forge a close familiarity with each particular location. Physical elements of the landscape are used as part of the process (and often as the medium for the work). I draw with pigment extracted from the earth and make stains and dyes from wild plants. Mud and organic plant material are stuck to the paper or printing plate. Sticks and stones are used to scratch and incise the surface. This use of natural, native materials to create the work helps establish a direct physical and empathetic relationship with my environment.

In my working practice, I aim to stay true to a philosophy of minimal intervention, conscious of my activity's impact on the environment. The imagery is developed due to this sensitive interaction with natural elements. It is also determined by an instinctive and spontaneous response to variations in weather and light and to seasonal temporality: the transience of nature. My work is simply an expression of my experience of being in these places. Not only is it specific to place but also strictly specific to time.

Website: www.stuartsmithartist.com IG: @stuart._smith