Artist Statement

Kerem SmithStone

Edge Gallery

Growing up in the streets of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I lived many moments of pure life. My childhood there taught me many valuable lessons. In joyous and sometimes painful ways. One being, life is not about comforts, conveniences, and the things you have, it's about living and being fully in the moment with the ones you love. Experiencing it all as one. Discovering and rediscovering the mysteries it has to offer. This is one of my main fuels for the art I create. To bring me back to those moments of pure life, where I lived in complete reverence for existence. I was always in awe of the world around me. Feeling so connected to a beauty much bigger than me. It made me feel absolutely free. Even though I was surrounded by poverty, I never lacked a taste for life, nor did my peers. We mostly ran around in the street looking for things to keep our interest and it didn't take much for us to find joy in the smallest thing, whether it was bottle caps, marbles, or a rundown soccer ball, we’d find bliss in that. This feeling wasn't as easy to access as an adult living in America with more comforts and security.  But painting allows me the biggest avenue to recapturing the essence of those days, to return to Ethiopia, to feel alive, to feel my Africanness. This gives me so much strength and peace in life it's hard to put into words. With my mind growing up and becoming conscious of the traumas of the world, it became increasingly more important for me to create paintings that  express African people in full dignity, existing in unique ways, that tells our multifaceted story. It  can be  mythical, fantastical or anywhere in between, but it conveys our full humanity in full color. The history of African people worldwide is the history of struggle and pain. I never want to deny that, I just want to show that we are bigger than our struggle, we are full human beings first. We have a spiritual mind, a spiritual heart, a spiritual eye. I want to play my part to help us to reconnect to that, to see ourselves being free and free enough to occupy any and all spaces. This is what I seek to depict in my art. 

Throughout most of life, from about the age of 10, I always felt myself to be an artist. It was always a simple pleasure for me and I especially loved drawing. It wasn't till later on in my adult life I discovered my favorite medium of oil painting. The discovery ignited a fire in me to create like never before. For the first time I felt my art gave me a voice, beyond just a hobby. I felt myself creating with a purpose and drive like never before. Since then I have painted several dozen pieces from landscapes, to portraits, to surreal scenes. All seeking to depict African people and the diaspora in dynamic and multifaceted ways. Many times I find myself not really knowing what sort of ideas I am trying to relay, and over-explanation always felt off to me as I enjoyed not knowing the full translation of the mostly unconscious material. One example of a recurring motif for me is the use of the bird on head imagery. Usually in portrait format depicting African people with a variety of birds atop their heads. An image that echoes messages from a distant past. When looking over some writings on African folklore and other native stories worldwide. I began seeing the bird's association with the human soul. How a bird brings a child his soul, and takes it back when the person passes. Seeing how there are so many unique and diverse array of birds, also signified to the people that the bird's soul is a human soul perfected over lifetimes. These interpretations are hard to dismiss for they speak to us in ways we don't always understand. I first encountered this idea in a dream. A dream about a society of birdhead folks. Who all appeared to me with a stoic elegance and a certain symbiosis with the feathered friend on their heads. This would later be one of my most important inspirations. Always striving to recapture that dream, and I continue till this day. I currently live and work in Boulder, Colorado. I’v had exhibits in Denver, Boulder, and New York City.

My Goal is to one day take my art worldwide and learn about real people and their real story. To recreate the legends that many try to deny, to give power and voice to the ancestors whose shoulders we all walk on. I value art but most importantly I value African art. Across all times and places. I seek to one day not only contribute to the creation of more African art, but to also help bring back all the stolen African art worldwide. This is a strong mission of mine. I do it for my people and I am in a privileged position to have the upbringing and nurturing that allows me to create works of art with the same aim of liberation. My saying is “it's all freedom”.  Life is about being free, and nothing rises above the mission of African liberation. Across all walks of life under every rock. No matter what my situations are, my mission lights the way forward. In recent times I was able to secure a membership to Edge Gallery in Denver during the fall of 2022 which allows me to have multiple yearly showings. This is where I currently reside as an artist. Just wrapped up a group showing where I presented another dozen new paintings titled “Cloud SIngers.” My biggest show to date with 3 massive walls to present my vision. It was a strong reminder of why I do the work I do, and more reason to keep moving forward in this momentum.