We recently connected with Darryl Smith and have shared our conversation below.

Darryl, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

Honestly, I truly am happy as an artist. It has been such an enriching part of my entire life due to the sheer aspect of creating something out of nothing. I find this ability to put into reality what was originally a thought, a word, a sentence, or a passing event very rewarding. There have been moments where, yes, I have thought about having a regular job, but I feel it can all be traced back to being an artist, as the skill sets I would have in the regular job are all obtained through having worked as an artist. There is an insane amount of problem-solving, risk-taking, and innovative approaches that I feel are all a part of my being an artist. All of these together give me an immense amount of joy.

Art, we also have to note, is such a broad term, and everything from the design of our apartment, our plate we eat on, and the phone we use are all art in one way shape or form. All this to say that art is all around us even when we don’t realize it, so I find being an artist a valuable life path for me.

Darryl, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Of course! Whenever I introduce myself I boil it down to these three words: artist, classicist, and polyglot. Separate words, yes, but they all are intertwined for me. I am an artist primarily working in the field of drawing, specializing in silverpoint drawing and egg tempera painting. I think what may set me apart from others is how I use language, primarily ancient classical languages, as a key element in my work as a figurative artist.

The drawings that I do are mainly in response to seeing the contemporary world through the lens of myth, in this case Greco-Roman mythology, as it can play a key role in recontextualizing various aspects of the day-to-day, politics, and society at large. Through researching ancient literature, I started to see how the themes discussed in myths are extremely relevant in contemporary discourse, though through the lens of visual art this may seem a bit “passé”, I’ve heard, due to its overindulgence in previous art movements, the Renaissance being the key one.

I’d like to take this use of myth, however, outside of the realm of the Renaissance and other art periods that were inspired by it because I feel it has a bit of a negative influence on today’s discussions on ethnic diversity and beauty, as well as playing a role in the prevalent dehumanizing of marginalized communities. The positive take is just that myth is a way of recontextualizing or making sense of reality. I also use it to ask questions about reality. Is there is a great deal of strife due to skin pigmentation, a visual phenomenon, why not create conversation about this via visuals? This is one of the main questions I feel like permeates all that I do. As I continue to visually research and ponder this question, I become proud of the way I seamlessly blend language and visual art. It is all connected!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Outside of thinking about art as language, I feel one of the mission driving my creative journey is the treatment of art as an intellectual and scholarly pursuit. I find it troubling how art and art-making, and in my case using more traditional art techniques, are regarded as non-essential. We are surrounded by art daily and so I constantly see it’s presence and importance in our lives. I’m not sure when in history the importance of art startled to dwindle, but in my eyes I hold art as the same level as other fields such as engineering and other academic paths.

Art as a scholarly act is such a huge aspect that drives everything that I do.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

When I draw the figure, I feel like I am extracting s part of my soul and embedding it permanently onto sheet of paper and I find this absolutely rewarding. After a drawing is complete I always am amazed how the stoic energy radiates calmly from the page. I would not trade this for anything!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dkbsart.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deltakappabetasigma
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dkbsart/
• Twitter: dkbsart