Puerto Rico born, Chicago bred, Boston raised, but inspired in Indonesia, Patrick Smith – a now New Yorker – has led quite a career as a professional artist. And to think, he’s only just begun his second project since establishing his independence and moving into his Tribeca studio. From art school to MTV to Disney to owning his own gallery, Pat shares some experiences and offers hard-to-come-by advice. From a couch on his 5th floor, high-lofted windowed studio, the laid-back artist who surfs in his spare time is patient and kind as I drill him with nosy questions.

Smith predominantly does animation. He worked behind the scenes as an animator at Disney, illustrating for hours a day. He also produced Daria, a cartoon on MTV, created a mural for Salvation Army, worked on a series for Sesame Street, and did three or four music videos.

MTV is a good buffer zone between running an independent studio and working for a big company. I got my production methods from Disney and MTV. It’s a really good place to learn stuff – working 8 hours a day you learn how to draw very quickly. But television has no personal expression and I was always focused on doing my own work.

Which soon led to his involvement with independent films, more of a fine art that eventually brought him to painting.

Independent film gives you the opportunity to travel in places you wouldn’t normally go. My favorite shows were in Lubjiana, Slovenia, and Austria.

Patrick’s initial influence for his project came together during his year abroad in Indonesia from a traditional, tribal form of art: the totem pole.

Regarding creating the pieces Smith submitted for C2NY and his unique style:

The idea of people piled on top of each other is an urban theme. Creating configurations of people coming together creates something larger. I took the idea of wooden sculptures in Indonesia and brought graffiti into it. They’re like totem poles, but more figurative – full figures. It’s classical figure drawing into something more contemporary.

Color Palette?

I stay away from a lot of saturation. I like earth tones, soothing tones. I gravitate towards yellow and red because they’re warm. I like to experiment with color. It’s all one body of work.

Pat’s 2-d urban modern totem pole compellations are well over 6 feet tall.  They debuted strapped to telephone poles, just to see if they would catch the attention of the public of course. Which they did.

I wanted to do public art because I think it’s so legitimate. It’s always been something I think is really effective.

As we wrap up, Patrick Smith offers some smart, very real advice for aspiring artists:

When starting out, acknowledge really fine artists that influence you and grab onto that. You should really be a student of other peoples’ work and of the world around you. I like Dutch sculptor Gustafago and the Keith Herring aspect, but I wish I would have been influenced by them earlier. I think I would have been much further along. Art schools today hold up the mirror to their students a little too closely. Self-indulgence just kills art.