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Jeff Schmuki

Artist Statement:

The consequences of inefficient and excessive consumption are now being realized worldwide. Fixed beliefs about our environment and long-term sustainability must give way to imaginative alternatives. Out of my concern over humanity's failure to forge a sympathetic accord between culture and nature, I initiate projects in the hope of salvaging a sense of sanctuary in a troubled world.

 

My goal as an artist is to address current environmental stresses, food shortages, and wasteful practices by linking ecological issues to a diverse array of creative operations and tactics.  Horticultural installations, interventions, and performance foster discussion and generate action in the area of ecological awareness. Whimsically functional yet serious hydroponic plant growth systems, mobile garden machines, botanic “enhancements”, and “portable fields’ promote social responsibility and a more accountable use of natural resources.

 

I am well aware of our collective yet tenuous relationship with the natural world and feel it necessary to share how our daily actions affect the planet. In the end, I aspire to create projects that are rigorous and poetic in their conceptual processes where passive viewers become empowered participants playing a significant role in creating a sustainable future long after the art and artist have moved on.

Biography:

 

U.S. based artist Jeff Schmuki received his M.F.A. from Alfred University. Inspired by the devastation and personal loss caused by Hurricane Katrina Jeff embraces the “Do It Yourself” philosophy and utilizes off-grid/renewable power technologies. Schmuki’s horticultural works lack soil and are fashioned to mutate in response to unexpected situations and ever-changing environments underscoring the nomadic life he has been forced to experience. Most recently, Jeff has completed projects in Italy, South Korea, Egypt, France, and Canada.

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