Alim Smith

Fire Under Pressure

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The minute we saw Alim Smith’s surrealist campaign for season three of Atlanta, I booked this interview. His unique stylization and processing of pop culture twists icons into new, immortalized moments. He’s hit several sweet spots this year, holding it down in Delaware, where the quiet life gives him space for ambitious endeavors.

Kristin Farr: What’s Wilmington like?

Alim Smith: It's a very plain place, just a bunch of parks. It closes down at about seven o’clock. It’s a great space for starting and building my family and exploring the imagination because there's literally nothing to do.

When did you start painting?

I’ve been drawing my entire life and painting since 2015. Instagram was getting popular and friends and nephews were sending me pictures of different artists’ work. I didn’t know if they wanted me to enjoy it, or they were trying to troll me because I was super competitive, since I went to art school. So I thought, oh, you think I can’t do this? I can do this! I started to go full in because I thought my friends and family didn’t believe in me as an artist. [laughs]

How did the Atlanta project come up?

It was summertime, August. A month before, I had been talking to a friend about how I felt I hadn’t been using my talents at all. I let Covid just suck me dry, and I felt the world was gonna end, so I just didn’t do anything creative. I was crying to her, and really going through it. After that little episode, like two weeks later, I got an email saying,