Danny remembers his past, both the good times and when he was bullied as a teenager and contrasts with the present where he is a successful confident professional artist.
Danny Smith was born in Wallingford in 1975 where he grew up, he now lives in Oxford. Danny has clear artistic intentions: to show independence, demonstrate emotions associated with change and personal empowerment. Danny identifies pride in being a role model for other disabled people seeking an independent life. He has broad artistic interests and has worked in a wide range of media from painting and photography to performance, animation and documentary. His work across these media shows a common theme; Danny’s desire to demonstrate self-determination and explore the emotions triggered by change in his own life. In recent years, Danny has moved from New Cross in London where he lived for 15 years to Oxford, where he continues to live independently. His work in painting, photography and video has been exhibited within the UK and internationally. Working with Choreographer Anna Watkins, Danny has continued to explore the performative elements of his practice in the video piece Flashback, which is a reflection on his past life, including being bullied as a result of his disability. In the piece, produced against the backdown of the UK's national Covid-19 lockdown, he reframes these memories in the context of his current life as a professional artist.
