SFist started off the week feeling a little nostalgic, what with Memorial day and all. Last night we went to Casey Jex Smith’s opening at Swarm Gallery in Oakland. In addition to being literally blown away by his newest work, we loved seeing the newest line up of Half-Handed Cloud perform. And well, it made it us all nostalgic for the interview we did with Casey two years ago when he was finishing up art school at SFAI. So nostalgic that we’re reposting it after the jump for your Friday afternoon time killing pleasure. Casey’s show will be up at Swarm through June 17th. Though Casey’s style has evolved over the last few years, his thematic elements and pen-and-ink details continue to be what draws us to his art. The piece titled “Wedding Gift” is reason enough to take your favorite form of transit to Oakland. Make a night of it and hit House of Chicken and Waffles for some Mac and Cheese after.

We like to think that SFist interviews with locals are like catching little glimpses in to parts of the city you don’t know as well. For today’s interview Casey Jex Smith was kind enough to take time from preparing his MFA show to answer our questions. The result is a nice view of a the Mission and of life as an art student in the city.

Thematically, Casey’s art tends to explore the sublime and mystical, but even helicopters and neckties find a place in the worlds he creates. We especially love Casey’s meticulously rendered clouds. Clouds! They’re amazingly detailed pen and ink numbers. Make sure to check out the video clip Casey recommends—it’s the funniest thing we’ve ever seen on television.

The San Francisco Art Institute MFA final show opens today and runs through next week. Casey’s art alone is worth the trek to the Marina, but you’ll also fine a number of standouts in the 2005 crop of grads.

What's the best thing about being and Artist in SF?
The art community is small and friendly.

What's the worst thing?
Being able to afford only 6 more months of living here.

Name
Casey Jex Smith

Age and Occupation
28 art student/part-time illustrator

Home Town
Salt Lake City, Utah

How long have you lived in the Bay Area and Where
I’ve been here 18 months. I live in the Mission because that’s where people said I should live.

Favorite website
freeformfilm.org There’s a clip of my roommate barfing up blues clues ice cream during an in-studio news interview. (SFist Note: Seriously, watch this one!)

Favorite local business
Needles and Pens

What I'm currently Reading
Stalingrad by Antony Beevor and the Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt

Best Deal in San Francisco
A slice at Dejavu Pizza

Favorite mode of transportation
Helicopter w/rocket launchers

Best Band or Musician to come out of the Bay Area
Joanna Newsom

Favorite local hangout
Pete’s Café at the San Francisco Art Institute or Adobe Books

SF has the BEST:
Trolley Cars

You've never lived in SF until:
You haven’t been to the Wharf in years.

Best View in the Area:
Pete’s Cafe

Favorite Walk or Hike:
Under the Golden Gate around to the west side.

Favorite Bay area politician of past or present:
Matt Gonzalez

You can tell someone is a local here IF:
They put nutritional yeast on their popcorn.

SF would be soooo much better if only:
That NBA team across the bay moved over here without the current players.

Best Burrito:
El Farelitos

Best Restaurant:
Tu Lan

Favorite artist to come out of the bay area:
Barry and Margaret

Place you always tell visitors to check out:
826 Valencia

You have two hours and $15 bucks to kill in SF, what are you going to do?
Buy a burrito then rent an Xbox game and play it.

I want all the SFists out there to know:
There is life after death.

Tell us a San Francisco Story:
Once upon a time, before there were bridges in this city, magical stones would place themselves in the blue depths to create secret paths for humans and their cattle to cross in safety. Never to be seen again. The End.

Question you'd ask if you were doing this interview:
What is your favorite possession?