Focsi

Visual Art – Raleigh

An eclectic blend of influences, experiences, and yin/yang dualities collide to create the husband and wife duo known as Focsi, pronounced Fox-cee. Jamaul Phillip Smith, with his New Mexico roots peppered with MD/DC flavor, expresses his passion for lowriders, hot rods, motorcycles, and classic bicycles to create stylistically unique works juxtaposed with his wife, Erika Parker-Smith\'s love of afro\'s, Classic American Pin up, and other cultural icons, both foreign and domestic. The results are stunning collaborative art pieces that defy categorization or classification; much like a man without a country, belonging to everyone and no one. The talented duo work together to conceptualize the designs, choose layouts, styling, etc; then J. Phillip, as he is known in some circles, executes on their shared vision via graphite pencil, acrylic, or digital media produced on canvas, t-shirts, various found objects, shoes, and bags. They share their love of art through creating, teaching, live art pieces, and various shows such as RAW & Artomatic. J. Phillip Smith has been creating art since birth, and has a BFA in Illustration from Syracuse University. Mr. Smith has worked on various book illustrations, apparel design, participated in various art shows, & completed a multitude of commission pieces. While Erika Parker-Smith is a graduate of George Mason University, army brat, writer/poet, an avid self taught maker, and “glitterati”, cuz everything needs some sparkle.