theotherAPT

Keith Golsby-Smith

 

 

The works I create are a reflection of my Australian, Papua New Guinean and Pacific Island heritage. I feel it gives me a sense of connectedness to my indigenous heritages but also reflects the surf culture and natural environment that I grew up with in Australia. My art has always been a form of self expression for my own purpose but as life flows it has taken me to new opportunities and learning experiences that have evolved into creating works for a wider audience.

My current works have been conceived through the start of a new journey in life, emerging and evolving from dormant seed that was planted many moons ago. This new growth has been reawakened with the ebb and flow of the waters of life.

bio:

Keith Golsby-Smith is an emerging artist of Australian and Papua New Guinean heritage who is currently living in the tropical paradise of Cairns. Born in the Highlands of P.N.G, he migrated to Australia as a 4 year old, eventually moving to Caloundra on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. An affinity with the natural environment, surf culture and Papua New Guinean heritage are the primary influences for his art. Through his diverse upbringing and influences he considers himself, ‘A wantok bilong olgeta!’(Everyone’s friend..)

Producing informal pieces of art throughout his youth, Keith eventually ended up in Weipa in Far North Queensland in 2009 for his first posting as a primary school educator. Here he received his first formal arts education in print design and making under the tutelage of Charles Street, who later introduced Keith to the Cairns local arts scene when he relocated there a year later, to take up a teaching position at a local primary school.

The active involvement in the Cairns scene saw Keith take up designing new works influenced by his heritage and the arts practices of those around him. Several personal tragedies within his family gave him renewed cause to reflect on his heritage and find inner peace through the expression of his cultural identity and how he saw himself “fit” within today’s modern Australian culture.

Keith employs a cathartic approach to his arts practice. The works he creates are made without a preconceived idea, just a general idea about what form of design that he would like to incorporate and represent in his work. So depending on the music, mood and the flow of life, his work can be intricate with lots of detail or the simplest of designs.

Spending considerable time with screen printer and well-known artist Sam Tupou, Keith developed some of his work into a more refined look, with a unique colouring and presentation that speaks strongly of his cultural upbringing. He has embraced the involvement of several Cairns Art Collectives (MOFO, CupCake Studio Gallery), and been a keen participator in several artistic events in 2012. He was invited to take part in the Blunt Edge of Portraiture at The Pink Phoenix Gallery – a highly regarded Cairns event, and currently is exhibiting several prints in the Home Grown Arts Collective 2012, showcasing the diversity of artistic talent in the Cairns Region.

Keith has always made his art for personal enjoyment and created prints for friends and family. After living in Cairns for the last three years and meeting the many talented and diverse people of Cairns’ alternative music and art scene, Keith feels it is time to introduce his artistic interpretations to a wider audience and to go with the flow!