Shawn Smith
​Interview by Mia Cardenas, Colloquium Manager

​Shawn Smith's work investigates the slippery intersection between the digital world and reality. Working in the form of 3D printing and handcrafted wood, Smith constructs life-size three-dimensional installations of fauna. He has created works for many private and corporate clients including Facebook, Microsoft, Adobe, Fidelity Investments, Boston Consulting Group, W Hotels, Frost Bank, and Wired Magazine-UK, among others. Shawn's work is in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery in Washington DC, the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, and the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas among others. 
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​Mia Cardenas: Nice to meet you Shawn! Please tell us about your journey as an artist. How did your interest in exploring the intersections of technology and design through pixel art come about?

Shawn Smith: The digital work came out of a departure from using books as a raw material. In 2005, I worked with a programmer on a book project called Re-Frankenstein. I wanted to make a book that was based on an online image search. We developed a script that would do a find and replace procedure. The program would take a word from a text and swap it out with the most popular image associated with that word, on that day. We ran the script on Mary Shelley’s 208th birthday. The finished book was a series of images that replaced the words in Frankenstein. Since the book has so many nature references, these images were very prevalent. I started thinking about my own relationship to the natural world and I began to realize that I didn't really have one. I grew up in urban Dallas. For me, there wasn't a lot of nature to experience first hand. I realized that the only way I really knew nature was from a distance. My experiences with nature were conveyed through a computer screen or television. I thought this would be an interesting idea to explore.​

Nesting Elk

Harmony of Decay

  

​MC: Describe the process behind creating one of your favorite pieces of work.

SS: The building and construction of Harmony of Decay was an exciting, enriching, and sobering experience for me. The piece depicts a pixelated white rhino that is covered in hundreds of colorful mushrooms. This was an opportunity to explore a variety of colliding systems and the title is a nod to new life that springs from death. I enjoyed researching mushrooms from around the world with their fascinating colors and a plethora of patterns they almost look like candy. During the building of this piece, I taught myself to make silicone molds for the hand-sculpted mushrooms and how to cast them in resin. My favorite days in the studio are days when I’m learning new techniques and discovering new things about nature. A few days before I finished the installation, I learned that the last male White Rhino, Sudan had died.

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Glitched Griffon Vulture

​MC: Which current art world trends are you following or are interested in exploring?

SS: I follow a variety of writers, artists, filmmakers, and scientists on various social media platforms. In terms of contemporary art, I pay special attention to Glitch Art, BioArt, New Aesthetic, Conceptualism, and Hyperrealism. Historically, I most enjoy Surrealism, Realism, Romanticism, and Futurism.
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​MC: What has been the biggest obstacle you have encountered working with your medium?

SS: Kaleidoscope was a bit of a departure for me. I wanted to make a piece that drew attention to the decline of the Monarch butterfly. The overall shape of the piece is taken from a Monarch population graph over the last 10 years. I made hundreds of Monarch butterflies out of laser cut wood and digital prints. On the left of the piece, when the populations are higher, the butterflies are more recognizable. As the population begins to dip lower and lower, the identity of the butterflies begins to become more glitched and abstracted into something almost unrecognizable.

Burning Bright, 18ft

Harmony of Decay

Tower, 71 ft

MC: If you could give rising artists and sculptors advice about advancing their careers, what would you say?

SS: Find your own voice. Don't pay attention to trends. Cherish relationships with anyone that will give you an honest critique of your work.

Glitched Griffon Vulture

Harmony of Decay

To learn more about Shawn Smith, check out his website