The Art of Seth
I live in the very tiny town in the mountains which is named Thomas and which is my favorite town in the entire universe. There, I have a gallery of my own called Creature and a studio in White Room, a collaborative gallery and workspace down the street. Thomas is located in what a lot of people call West Virginia, which is located within the United States which was created by some very confused humans drawing imaginary lines across a landmass they had also named North America on a planet called earth which is a rock in a universe that no-one really understands.
A lot of the work I make is, at the heart of it, about being entirely boggled by the great universe that no-one really understands. I’m not boggled in a paralyzing way but rather in a let’s-just-keep-pushing-buttons-and-see-what-happens sort of way. I push a lot of buttons and it keeps getting more and more interesting.
I started drawing things on paper when I was 22 and working at a cell phone accessory kiosk in the middle of the meridian mall. It was right outside of an Abercrombie and Fitch. Sometimes instead of mannequins, real people would come in and stand in the window with their shirts off. I thought it was interesting that they were only half clothed because it seemed like they were trying to sell shirts but at the same time convincing people that it was cool to not wear shirts. Anyway, I didn't really know how to draw at that time but i had good friends who said encouraging things. I also lucked out early on by stumbling across the stark realization that being able to draw well has no consequence on whether or not one should be making art.
I grew up in Michigan which is another one of those imaginary line things drawn by some humans. I really liked it there. I miss the lakes and the long straight roads you can drive down for hours with barely giving a thought to the wheel. I had friends who thought it was cool to pick flowers and stare up at stars and wonder about the great universe that no-one really understands. I also had the very good fortune of a kind family and parents that thought it was a good idea for their kid to want to write poetry a lot. For this encouragement, i am forever grateful.
Lastly, I’ve decided that I deeply believe that all this work you see here, and all the work I will ever make, is a big team effort. We learn what we value by those who touch our lives through simply wandering around in their own simple gorgeous ways and we create what we do by looking into what we value. This stands to reason that everything I do is an echo of things I’ve learned from people, namely those who have shown me love, kindness or care. This is still happening.
It’s happening right now.
Thank you.
