Biography

When I was three months old my biological father attempted to suffocate me while my mother  was food shopping. Upon her return realizing the attempt on my life she left him and relocated to NYC where she married her ex-boyfriend Alfred Smith, a Marine, who had just completed a tour of duty in Vietnam.

I was raised in tenements and housing projects on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. I was categorized as a “have not.” I was sent to schools that taught me just enough. My neighbors were Chinese, Jews, Italians, and Hispanics.

I witnessed my stepfather physically and mentally abuse my mother. I wanted to kill him.

I was physically abused by my stepfather until I was 16 years old when I finally ran away from home to escape my living Hell dropping out of high school in the 10th grade.

To survive, I slept in 24-hour movie theaters on 42nd street, park benches on the FDR drive, housing project rooftops, and subway trains. I was exposed to criminal elements during my informative years. I was a lost cause who had no skills and or expectations. I didn’t love myself, so I didn’t care if I lived or died.

My role models were drug dealers, actors, models and athletes. I played basketball, but I knew I wasn’t going pro, so I sold drugs. I went to church on Sunday, but I lost my faith in God daily. I wanted to be a priest, I wanted to be rich and famous, I lived in a constant state of need and want. My step father smoked crack and my biological father never attempted to contact me.

I served celebrities at Club Area. I met Jean Michel Basquiat when I was 16. His art and life changed my purpose.

I joined the Army at 18 because drug dealers were attempting to kill me.

At 19 I started smoking marijuana, drinking alcohol and snorting cocaine—but I became friends with Alexander Venet, the son of Conceptual Artist Benar Venet when I was 21. I was exposed to the blueprint and philosophy of contemporary art.

The day I was released from the Army I met the love of my life, Chyneet. We got married and had a son, Lucien.

Wanting my life to have a greater purpose I stole my ex-mother-in-law’s 35 mm camera and began documenting my surroundings; I sat in on classes at Parsons School of Design in Los Angeles. I wanted to change my life because I was running in circles and I wanted my son to respect me.

I went to the public library every day from opening to closing and read every art and photography book they had on the shelves and what I couldn’t find, I found on the Internet.

I’ve been fortunate to be well traveled visiting galleries and museums all over the world. I found my voice: photography, painting, mixed media, poetry, film and stage plays.

In retrospect, I never gave up on myself. I didn’t want to be a slave and or live in fear. I didn’t want to walk amongst the walking dead.

My son Lucien Smith attended The Cooper Union and is now a noted visual artist.

Art saved my life. It’s my therapy, my weapon of choice; it helps me to cope with the day-to-day struggles of being a human being.

My contribution to humanity is my art, my voice, and in this is the sole reason, I am alive.

Terrence Sanders-Smith