Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Sung.
Hi Amber, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started to fall in love with art since I was a child. My mother took me to my favorite art class and invited teachers to my home to teach me. I got a good education in art. But the moment when I decided to pursue an artistic path is during my high school. The AP Studio Art class in my high school only accepts nine people in a class, and I’m one of the lucky ones to be selected. This gives me a lot of confidence about my artwork and my choice. I would like to thank my high school, Shanghai High School International Division, for giving me the opportunity to take AP Studio Art course in the eleventh grade.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
“You have to have a very strong drawing skill to be successful.” But then, I realize the biggest goal is to let people to recognize my work. And the first step is to have a unique style. There are uncountable art styles in the world, and the trees drawn by everyone look so different. It takes a lot of time, practice and failure to find your niche. At the same time, it not only confronts the taste of the public but also needs to be suitable for you. This is the most difficult part. I spent a lot of time and experimenting with my style. Compare my paintings from a few years ago to my recent paintings, they look completely different, and seem not drawn by the same person at all. At first, my paintings did not have my personal characteristics and personality. They looked like paintings imitating other people’s painting styles. They were once said to be boring. But after hard working and many adjustments, I began to discover the themes I like to paint and the skill I like to use.
My own experience has integrated into my works too, and the art style has become more and more obvious. So for me, persistence is very important, and there is no way to rush. Do you remember the Soot Sprites (soot balls) from Spirited Away very popular? During the rainy season, I found a lot of moldy places in my house. So I also created a similar character like Soot Sprites, it’s called Moldy Sprites and I named the piece “The Uninvited Guest of the Rainy Season”. Just like this drawing, I think tiny things in life can be very interesting subjects too, it depends on your mood and perspective of looking at things. This is also what I want to express in my creation.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My inspiration mostly comes from the surrounding objects, substances, and food, those daily things that you see every day but never greet to you. I would paint them with eyes, noses and mouths. Those characters in my paintings, they have their own personalities and thoughts, each of them is doing their own business. It all starts with a hat. One day when I was crossing the road, suddenly my hat was blown off by the wind, I hurried picked up the hat and put it back on, but after a few days, I found that my hat was gone again, this time it disappeared and I never see it again. It felt like the hat wanted to run away from home from the very beginning; it wanted to leave me. Because of this hat, I started to feel that the objects around me they have their own thoughts. This hat has inspired me to create a series of drawings. And I begin to believe objects around us are full of intelligence!
In my drawings, you can see a girl and many objects around her, and those objects have eyes, nose, and mouth on them. I often stay alone in my room, but I quite enjoy it because the items in my room entertain me and make me not feel bored. Besides, I cherish the things around me very much. I have my wallet over ten years, it feels like a good companion. Over time, my paintings have also been affected by my lifestyle. I want to reflect the feeling of “the bond between objects and people”.
The special thing about my paintings is that sometimes the picture looks messy, but from the messiness, many details can be found, and there are places that make people smile. Because I have lived in many different cities, sometimes there are different local characteristics. I would say my paintings is based on the subject – “life”. In terms of color, I like to use bright and colorful colors, which are slightly exaggerated than reality, such as red with green, yellow with blue, and red with blue.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Being an artist, I have the power to create my thought into an actual physical painting, the strong observation in discovering beautiful things in our daily life, and the ability to convey happiness to the audience. These are all rewarding aspects of being creative. These habits have make me a better and useful person, I enjoy hearing people’s laughter when they see my art, and all the comments they make to my artwork are motivation to keep me going. It brings me rewards and positive energy.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ambersung.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ambersungart/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ambersungart/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ambersungart
