BIO

My name is Samuel Lavigne Schmidt and I am an Apprentice Artist. Although I am still a novice, my technique and approach to creativity has evolved over the years. In the beginning, I used to pride myself on being esoteric and complicated; my art was intended for people “worthy” of deciphering my rhetoric. Thankfully, I have outgrown and distanced myself from that elitist (and naïve) ideology. Rather, I now strive for simplicity, and with a purpose of community building for mental health.

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My craft is film and photography; but, I approach my practice as a painter approaches a bare canvas or an illustrator approaches a blank piece of paper. Not knowing what, as flâneur, my urban or nature walks will bring, I always return to the safety of my home to cast a critical eye on what I have acquired. A body image can be reproduced and captured so many times, but the mind is what I seek to explore. If we believe that our behaviours are an extension of our cognition, I wish to capture the underlying drive from that hidden world in the mind.

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My interests lie in mental health and how art can be a tool for advocacy and, more importantly, for creating agency - even rehabilitation. Unaware of who actually suffers from mental ailments, I believe that the discourse around mental disability still is not at the forefront of the communal conversation. For a better society revolving around sustainable production and beauty, we must promote and create a society that includes all marginalized individuals in the conversation, rather than excluding or just avoiding them. The trajectory must be away from the shadows, away from victimhood, away from fear or pity, and towards agency.

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I am of the mind that there is still much for me to learn about my practice and myself, as well as about our society as it continues to evolve. I strongly believe that, as I develop my craft and art, I can promote these important messages about mental health. I want to capture raw moments in time that reinforce the positive aspects of our culture by giving a voice to players that are not normally given a voice. What I believe to be important is that my art comes from a genuine and well-intentioned place, having as an agenda to highlight beauty in places and people that would normally not be seen.

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I am an Art Education major; I have a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies and I currently work part-time to pay for my studies. I am a hard worker with strong convictions for the arts and culture. I desire to tell stories, with great calmness at a deliberate pace, that no other could tell. As I am fully immersed in the community, the stories I aspire to capture will be dealt with great care and responsibility. I look forward to the opportunities it can provide.