Zev Smith-Danford

What is your favorite art medium to work in, and why?

Self Portrait by Zev Smith-Danford

My favorite medium to work in is photography. I’ve always been drawn to this medium because of connection in photography between the complete control and precision allowed by a camera that is balanced with the chaos and lack of control caused by the world around the camera – the environment, the changes in light, the movement of a persons face. Photography is a medium that captures the world in a way that is both a complete truth and a falsified document all at the same exact time.

When did you first figure out that art was important to you?

I had the privilege to experience museums and concerts at an early age, and always found an emotional connection to the art I was seeing, even if I didn’t fully understand it’s meaning or purpose. I first figured out making art was important to me when I was a teenager. The thrill and excitement of creating something fully my own was a powerful act.

Who is your art mentor?

While attending Humboldt State University, Don Gregorio Antón became a mentor to me. He taught me to be vulnerable with my myself and show that vulnerability in my art. Don showed many of his students how to embrace the emotions, good and bad, of ourselves and the world and insert those emotions into our work. He helped me feel confident enough in myself to call myself an Artist.

Finish this sentence: My art is my...

lived experience, my truth, my struggles, and my successes.

What advice would you offer someone just beginning their exploration of their own artistic self?

All of your art is deserving to be made because you wanted to create it. Regardless of training and technique, your creations are beautiful and worthy of being made because they are your voice and your mind that you are choosing to put out into the world.

Do you have a website or blog you would like us to link to?

https://zevsmithdanford.myportfolio.com