Jake Smith’s driving artistic philosophy includes not only creating visually engaging work but also a platform for two-way communication.
"If you're not communicating an idea, it's not art. It's decoration," Smith says. "And decoration's great. I'm a commercial artist. I make decorative things all the time, but art is a communication of an idea. If there's not an underlying back and forth between the creator and the viewer that's not art."
Smith’s upcoming show "Thoughts and Prayers" is comprised of two parts and fills both sides of the gallery space in Olin Hall in the campus of Roanoke College. The first part focuses on large graphic signage and language that emphasizes the ironies, incongruencies, and snarky judgmental language of modern society, and could serve as memes in and of themselves on social media.
Conceptually the other side of the gallery is made up of works that center around a fictitious society conceived by Smith called the Seeders. Smith’s work is heavily influenced by his upbringing in Appalachia, and the current show is a smorgasbord of political commentary, absurdities and contradictions that mirror our present-day culture but based on a type of Appalachian mysticism practiced by the made-up traditions of the Seeders.
"Specifically, they really use the cherry tree as an icon and a symbol of the life cycle," he explains.
And that is why visitors will see references to cherries throughout the exhibit. One piece depicts a figure with a golden cherry for a head lying on a sleigh covered in colorful plastic flowers. Smith has also made currency such as coins and bills with cherries on them which visitors can use to operate interactive pieces of the show. Another way visitors can engage with the works of art is to scan the “artifacts” of the Seeder culture to learn more about their rituals, beliefs, and iconography.
"You find artifacts that are actually in the show, like there's a cookbook. And you can scan that cookbook, and it'll take you right to that section of the history and it talks about the importance of food and their culture."
The artifacts of the Seeder culture prompt questions about our own society. For Smith art can be a better vehicle than other forms of communication like journalism or science to create a bridge that might act to disarm people, no matter where they fall on the socio-political spectrum.
"We are siloed in our populations," Smith explains. "We find our in-group, and we stick with them and we defend them without even thinking about it a lot of times. That is problematic. I do believe, though, that there are people that are willing to kind of see things in a different way, if you are presented with either a not a blunted message, but a message that's delivered in a way, you know, putting the dog treat in, in some cheese, that sort of thing. And I think that some degree, that's what artists do is, you know, we're going to give you your medicine, but we're going to wrap it in some peanut butter."
Every two years the gallery hosts a juried show and the winner is afforded space for a solo exhibit. In 2025 Smith won the juried show with a piece called, “History of the Seeder Nation,” comprised of electric candles, plastic cherries, repurposed cabinetry and a documentary-style slideshow of images from glass negatives projected inside the cabinet.
Talia Logan, director of Olin Galleries, says Smith’s work does not shy away from challenging the viewer and is
"Very provocative. It brings up a lot of questions," Logan says. "And I think for an educational institution, that's what we should do, have artwork really kind of start different conversations. Some may be difficult; some might be funny."
No doubt Smith’s work will give visitors a lot to talk and think about.