There are times in life when one comes to realize that the mind and soul are far in the future, even though we are always physically present. When I completed my undergraduate studies at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in 2004, I rented a studio on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and began painting whatever came to mind. I also visited Paris twice and promised myself that I would make studies of the Eiffel Tower out of fascination. There were lots of studies (most have been sold), and I would, on occasion, open my studio to other artists for group gallery exhibitions under my name. My artistic focus was constantly on the aerial photos I took from the tower in Paris, and somehow my own ear ended up in the picture.
After spending many years as an apparel designer, I did not want to apply a fashion aesthetic to my rediscovery of fine arts. The instructors at SVA intimated that I was struggling with drawing, but I was not; I was merely researching a style of my own, away from classes and critiques. What emerged from this was something I called Abstractrealism. The term was not new, but it fit what I was trying to do with my oil paintings. Secretly, I was also studying human anatomy in parts, at a time, along with the abstraction of industrialism in landscapes.
Subconsciously, I always struggled with my self-confidence around my mentors. Underneath all the thoughts and my awkward journey through life, I also discovered that incidents of racism had molded my subconscious and caused me to feel something internally dark.
The large canvas was stretched and completed at my Brooklyn studio in 2008. When the painting was complete at the end of August, I shared images with my leading art professor at SVA. She identified my struggles with racism and discrimination in the painting. Before that time, I could not see it in my own work. She also commented that she believed that the painting had sparked my journey into really making fine art.
Temptation, 2008, oil on canvas (54" x 80") by Stacy Stewart Smith (he, him, his)
Temptation is referenced in Atelier Quarterly Vol. II: Couture Reformation — 66 pages of menswear couture philosophy, fine art, and craft.
Vol. I — La Belle Époque Redux is available now: Get Vol. I
Fine Arts by Stacy Stewart Smith | Explore the Magazine | stacystewartsmith.com
Atelier Quarterly is a menswear couture magazine written and designed by Stacy Stewart Smith. Published in New York.
Stacy Stewart Smith (he, him)
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