Symbiotic

Lionel Smit is a South African Artist that does Contemporary painting and sculpting. He was exposed to art since he was little because his dad was an artist too. So becoming a very strong and popular artist in South Africa isn't surprising . Just like Lionel, I was exposed to art and developed a very creative mind when I was young. As a child, I used to play in my aunt's Art studio at home. I never knew then that I would be an artist now or think of doing it as a career.

Some of Lionel's sculptures are described as holographic because of the lines he has carved in. He uses all sizes of forms for his art; from large and small canvas and does large to small sculptures too. He really inspires me to do more paintings and branch out into sculptures too. His paintings have a feel of Africa in his pieces and that is something I would love to do with my pieces. The way he captures the facial features of most Africans in his sculptures amazes me. His use of color in his paintings is what inspired me to add a little color to my "Kaleidoscope Eyes" painting. In the future I hope to be able to add a lot more color to my people paintings like Lionel.

Lionel's paintings are simplistic but have enough detail that they look finished or complete. His expressive use of paint in his portraits adds another element to his art. The paint splatters and bright colors are a cool contrast to the expression the faces hold. He puts color on certain facial features to either emphasize them or show what the look is in a way. I love the way he uses sculpture and painting side by side-two different mediums into one art piece.

Ifeanyi is a junior in my AP Studio Art class. Here are some examples of her art: