Oneiric Realism - The Art of Steve Smith

Dream Matter is my attempt to discover the natural artistic expression within myself. My goal is to combine reality with the dream state, drawing as spontaneously and intuitively as possible. My hope is that each viewer's experience will be unique, as when viewing the formations of clouds or ink blots. The images produced will be the result of the viewer's interpretation as the artwork is absorbed by the psyche. Dream Matter is organic in nature, as expressed by the Neo-Confucian concept of "li," or organic patterning, displaying a flux of imagery symbolic of the fluctuation of phenomena in reality. It is a representation of all things at their origin. The act of drawing Dream Matter is an expression of a Taoist idea known as Wu Wei, which, in western thought, is simply defined as spontaneous, free expression, not forcing, allowing the drawing to be freely created, with as little planning or interruption from the conscious mind as possible. In creating Dream Matter, I search for a technique that will allow the art to emerge from the core of existence, where reality and mind meet.

I was born in 1961 in New Martinsville, West Virginia, where I lived until 2004 when I relocated to California. Art has always defined my life. It is not only what I do, but an integral part of who I am. As a teenager, I was strongly influenced by the Surrealists and their ideas regarding automatic expression and spontaneity in art.

I have worked in acrylic and experimented with collage, but my preferred medium is graphite. Although I was accepted to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, I attempted for many years to limit my exposure to art instruction, hoping to discover my own style and techniques with minimal influences from external sources. My current style of art is the result of that effort. I have previously shown my work in shows in New Martinsville and Pine Grove, West Virginia; at the Plaza Arts Center in Healdsburg, CA in April 2005; in the "Dream States" juried show at the Caladan Gallery in June 2005; and in the juried show "In the Abstract" at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts in November 2005.