Meet Anna Smith | Multi Media Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Anna Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Anna, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Pursing a creative career was something that just felt so innate for me personally. I’ve never really felt myself drawn to just one subject or one medium so choosing an artistic career gave me that freedom of having options, the freedom to push the limits of material and easily switch when I find something that does not work. It never really felt like I made the conscious choice to seek this path out, it was the primary way that I found fulfillment, so doing anything else felt like a disservice to myself.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Though in the past I have predominantly identified as a photographer I find myself working in a variety of different mediums such as fibers, metals, and any related craft while using photographic techniques. My work largely surrounds the idea of the human experience, what that means, and how we express it through our personal relationships. The world is full of such vast and intense experiences that I don’t think there is anyone out there who is purely themselves but rather a collection of these circumstantial moments and the people they have encountered. We’re closer to fragments that make up a whole rather than just the whole itself. I still find this belief embedded in the way that I work as I personally create in a way that is process intensive, typically creating more problems for myself than need be. The largest of these issues isn’t just the physicality of making the work itself but the act of getting ahead of your thinking. Theres this pressure that everything you make has to be incredible or it shouldn’t be created at all so it’s almost inevitable to feel like the creating process shouldn’t occur. But regardless there is no better way to learn and encourage growth than through repeated (and bittersweet) failure. Even if your own work doesn’t speak to you sometimes, it will still have an impact on someone else. I would say the biggest thing I hope people would get out of my work is some kind of inexplicable connection, you don’t have to name an emotion to know how it feels, but rather just have this quiet intimate moment of experience. Growing up I was always more focused on the arts and artistic activities rather than textbook academia and despite the constant hounding of my early educators I’ve never changed. I would say growing up was difficult given my own personal obstinance coupled with the lack of connection I felt to a community that sympathized with who I was. Trial through failure was not really an option and any deviation from the standardized way of learning or acting was met with punitive contempt. What I found most helpful was knowing who I was and curating that community, while getting out of my own way is still an uphill battle, that sense of mutual understanding goes an incredibly long way. I began as someone who pushed back against the idea of even going to college, only to now find myself in graduate school.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would definitely say that there is a lot of beauty in quieter moments, so while things like larger concerts and venues are nice, smaller events like local live music or local vendors call for a closer experience. I would definitely take them to places like various hiking spots, art galleries surrounding Denton, or local restaurant owners.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Firstly I would probably have to say my family for their support, in addition to my undergraduate photography professor, Robin Germany, who’s patience I’m sure I tested at times. Having a support system of some sort is vital to feeling like you are thriving rather than just surviving when it comes to navigating the art world. As such I also have to give a quick thanks to all the friends I’ve added to my patchwork quilt along the way, their unadulterated enthusiasm to anything I’ve created goes further than I think they realize.

Instagram: @ann_uhh_

Other: Email: annasmith62642@gmail.com