Christian Suriel Smith
Christian Suriel Smith, a.k.a Su the Artist, is an aspiring renaissance man, professional visual artist, and the founder of Epik Art Collective. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Christian was surrounded by art, music, and creative influences in his home life, an environment to which he largely attributes his talent and interest as an artist. Often feeling like something of an outcast and excluded from social groups in adolescence, Christian found visual art as a place from which he could interpret and respond to what he lived and experienced. His artistic style and content draw inspiration from positive influences in his life as well as negative trends and events that he observes in the wolrd. He has exhibited his work in many locations both within the U.S. and internationally.
"Most of my recent work is inspired by digital media, race, politics, religion, and their sociological influences. Television, radio, and the internet have become the main source of how we receive information. Many people are misinformed and become very susceptible to images and symbols of agression, hyper-sexuality, materialism, prejudice, and racism. For example, the perception of what is 'success' is often skewed and unconsciously received by malleable minds of the youth. Also, issues such as high incarceration rates in minority communities can be linked to many of these influences. In my work, I choose to use artistic visual expression to provoke critical dialogue and contemplation on these affairs. 'No Signal' is the title of my series, because it represents the disconnection between us and progressive values. Ironically, the signal of the mainstream media is of dominance. This series consists of work that sometimes evokes the emotional frustrations and/or gives a transparent narrative of these issues."
—Christian Suriel Smith
