Fred Smith - A quick Q&A

Fred Smith (b. 1987) is a human being making their way through the world by creating drawings, paintings, and sculptural objects. 

Their work carries a thread of subversive irony, often poking at societal norms and highlighting the strange or unsettling in the everyday. Fred is currently based in Cazenovia, New York.

All of the existing work has either found a home or been destroyed—but if you're interested in acquiring a painting or sculpture, feel free to reach out.

What inspired you to become an artist?

I always wanted to make things. I remember being 4 or 5 and wanting to build a chair. I could visualize it but could never have crafted this chair at that age. As I got older making/creating was just something I kept coming back to, first drawing and then painting and I began playing with sculpture in my mid 20s. If anything inspired me truly it was the stories of my grandfather being a stubborn guy and just making anything he wanted to make even if people told him he was shit at it. 

How do you balance your personal life and your creative work?

I wonder if I even do sometimes. I’ve had my son full-time for two and a half, almost three years. Between raising him, paying the bills, and time in the studio, I fall short constantly trying to keep it all together, but it makes the successes more sweet when I do. And also I don’t really think there’s a way to balance it, all my work seeps into my personal life and my personal life pours over into my work. Some times I’m not even aware as it’s happening.

What themes or messages do you try to convey through your art?

How silly and serious everything is. How two totally opposite things can be true at the same time based on personal perspective and how all humans live in a shared reality where this is going on. I’m not picking sides either and saying what’s what. More so just interested in the conversation that can come from the work I create. 

Who are your biggest influences or favourite artists?

I really enjoy artists who create their own worlds and make work with really personal narratives. I feel like there’s a lot of contemporary artists that are currently doing that, breaking away from trends and just doing their own thing and that excites me. There are plenty of older/dead artists that do this as well but I’m more interested in the living ones. People like Dustin Brown, Rajuma Bey, Grace Stott, Leo Blanchard, Payton Mcgowen, there’s so many to name. 

How do you overcome creative blocks or challenges?

I just keep making. If something isn’t working I’ll switch mediums or find something to distract myself, movies, books. Also at this point in my life I have a decent amount of responsibilities outside of the studio so I’m usually pretty eager to get in and create when I have the chance.