About:
Sleep and Circumstance
Since I was young, I’ve written down sentences that appear in my head just as my mind is getting quiet and falling asleep. Most of the time they seemed like nonsense, strings of words tied together. I have books and books and books of these, and I got very good at training my mind and waking myself up to write these down. They are bizarre and odd and beautiful at times. I have used these as the starting points to many pieces of work over the past 20+ years, dissecting them and interpreting them in different ways, over and over. Through repetition, I see if I can discover meaning in these random thoughts.
For example, I have at least 10 portraits of a person that appeared in my head: “Rene Moir”
I’ve made drawing after drawing of something called the “(post) Swaphollows Dance”.
“Weekend Strangers” came into my mind on the night of August 13, 2005.
I started writing these sentences and dreams down when I was 16 or so. Since I began interpreting them, I have grown older, fallen in love and helped bring two little gems into the world. I’m affected by the world around me so much more now. And slowly over the past few years the circumstance of the day to day has crept into the sleep.
I now merge the two. I use my volumes of sleep sentences and odd narratives as a starting point. And I let life filter in.
Now the subjects of my art lie somewhere in between sleep and circumstance.
BIO:
MATT SMITHSON is a director, animator, and painter.
He holds an MFA from Savannah College of Art & Design in Motion Media and a BA from The College Of Charleston where he focused on painting and printmaking.
From humorous, craftily cut animations to uplifting films, Matt directs animated films for clients all over the world, including Young Arts, Patagonia, Lincoln and IBM, and do-gooders such as The Girl Effect, Ford Foundation, and the Parker Foundation.
He was recognized in 2009 with a Young Gun award from Art Director's Club, and his work was displayed at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York as part of the "Why Design Now?" Triennial Exhibition.
His painterly and mixed media animation style directly stems from his paintings and drawings and the creative energy and technique feed off of one another. He lives in the woods in Ivy Virginia making trails and playing in the stream with his kids.
In 2017 he joined forces with friend and fellow surfer David Stanfield to create animations under a new name: Igor + Valentine