CAP Artist Registry

http://www.allencsmith.com

I use the tools of childhood, while recalling and ignoring the formal theories I learned at school. Adult sober intellect drives my body to respond with childlike activity, forcing my self to recognize and follow the contradiction.

For me, making art is a visceral experience and a meditation. My abstractions are born of thoughts that come to me through the day, usually at first awakening. Often the thought is simply a line or a negative space that I choose to follow with my hand.

When I'm drawing with pencils and crayons, I work very aggressively, listening to frenetic music, grinding and sweating, drawing with both hands, sometimes tearing the paper. When I'm painting, I slow my heart rate, tone down the music, just groove to the feeling.

Some of my pieces were created as performance art in public spaces or during art festivals. The interaction between artist and audience further drives my creative excitement.