Jai Knight (previously Jaime Schmidt)

Jaime Schmidt is part of the Living Legacy Project at the Burchfield Penney Art Center. Click here to listen to their artist interview. 

“My work begins with instinct. I act based on the present moment, and I react. I conceptualize the progress based on my past experience and I move forward with what I may learn from listening to my intuition.  I want to create a kinesthetic environment to realign mental and spatial awareness. My process consists of a constant flow that I move through. When something is meant to happen- it will. There is no beginning and there is no end.

Anxieties arise everyday about what to do, where to go, what is right. My intentions are to allow organic growth, rather than dwelling in these anxieties. I practice this through mindful mediation while creating. I work from the body, to the mind, and into the unknown. 

My goal is to devise an experience inside of the phenomenological nature of the body. I want to allow the viewers to enter in awe of the fragility of the very moment we are in.” [1]

                                                                                                             -Jaime Schmidt

"Jaime Schmidt(Jai Knight) is a non-binary interdisciplinary artist, activist, certified permaculture / advanced social systems designer, land steward, herbalist, meditation guide, and oracle. As the first official field researcher for Parque Nacional Yendegaia, they documented extensive research of the flora, fauna, terrain, and man-made objects throughout the subantarctic beech forest. Their art practice is deeply interwoven with spirituality, the land, trauma, and regenerative practices. Jaime creates experiences for humans to reconnect with the natural world through material art, performance, space, and social practice. They have resurrected ephemeral land art in Los Padres National Forest (Ojai, CA), Parque Nacional Yendegaia(Chile), and most recently Johnson Valley, CA. Schmidt's work extends into social practice through sharing their original oracle deck, creating intentional spaces for meditation and prayer, co-creating retreat spaces for LGBTQIA/BIPOC communities, and hosting workshops on water conservation and meditative drawing. Jaime is archived in the Living Legacy Project through the Burchfield Penney Art Center and has work in their archives. Jaime has been commissioned for Murals in downtown Buffalo, and has work in multiple private collections in NY, CA, OR, MI, and Chile." [2]

[1] "Artist's Statement", Jaime Schmidt
[2] "info", https://www.jaimeschmidtarts.com/info.html [accessed 4/7/2021]