Today we’d like to introduce you to Arah Kang.
Hi Arah, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
As cliche as it sounds, art has always been relevant in my life. If the opportunity to be artistic or creative didn’t present itself, I would go out of my way to create one and put my own touch to it. It always just felt like my superpower that allowed me to express myself as a kid.
I am passionate about building community and advocating for diversity, inclusivity, and representation, especially within the Asian American Pacific Islander and BIPOC community. (and I mean literally everyone who falls under those umbrella terms) I choose to honor my values by creating art that portrays advocacy through a digestible and creative lens.
Many of the projects I take on often fill the voids of the things I missed out on from my childhood as a second-gen child of an immigrant family. So when I work on projects pertaining to identity, I work with the intention of healing the wounds of adults and creating normalcy for children. Things that I wish I had growing up and things that I wish our future will have growing up.
I don’t like to limit myself to one art style or medium. But I do love working with acrylics, spray paint, and paint markers. As of late, I’ve been really into creating murals around the city of Atlanta. I also developed a knack for organizing multiple artists and working on collaborative projects. I just want to make a positive impact in this world one brush stroke at a time.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think part of the journey is also to fail and run into obstacles. Otherwise, there would be no way to grow as a creative if everything was smooth sailing. I will say that I have been blessed to find great mentors and creatives who have helped open many doors and guide me but also blessed to have setbacks where some projects fall through or not go the way as expected. I have been learning so much through those interactions and experiences. Just like in any field, imposter syndrome is always real no matter where you go or what you do. To an extent, this might be helpful in movitation to keep working hard on your craft and honing it to build your confidence. But it definitely can get in the way and hold you back out of fear.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I do a lot of creative directing for my work, which often brings companies and businesses looking to create projects, products, and events with a creative twist. It often involves me organizing, outsourcing, and advocating for creatives in metro Atlanta. It is my personal mission to make sure that creatives are properly compensated and recognized for their time and work since exposure does not pay the bills and not something I want to normalize. If I am overseeing something, I want to make sure I make the most out of it and that I am making things right. Outside of creative directing, I specialize in murals.
I am most proud of the amount of achievements I have been able to obtain in the short amount of time that I went freelance full-time. It was one of the biggest risks I have taken for myself in my career, but one that I have poured my heart and soul into fruition. I particularly enjoy building community and inclusive spaces for creatives, especially that of the AAPI community.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Empathy has been one of the most important characteristics that have been crucial to my success. Empathy is understanding and respecting the time and effort that people put into their work in order to get to where they are today. Empathy is acknowledging and recognizing people’s value and worth. Empathy can be the root source of advocacy and a cause. Empathy can be used to create an intersectional and inclusive platform that gives voice and allows people, especially that of creatives, to share their story. Empathy is what shapes my drive to stay curious, educate myself even if it means to unlearn and relearn things, and honor my community. It allows me to build a community aligning with my values and supports me to become successful. In my opinion, success is not a singular or independent effort but something that is often created with a village backing you through the entire process.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.naharahyoh.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naharahyoh/
Image Credits
Jacky Cheng @chengyourlife
