Behind The Scenes With Irene Suh
Irene Suh (@iirbee) is an artist based in the Bay Area specializing in illustration and painting. Graduating from UC Santa Barbara, her work has been featured in multiple art exhibitions over the years. Over a call, I chatted with Irene about her art medium of choice, the process of getting work featured in exhibitions, and the balance between work and life as an artist.
Photo Courtesy of Irene Suh
Felix: You're an artist who has delved into different mediums of art, ranging from embroidery to illustrations and paintings. What were the reasons for choosing different art mediums? What draws you to them, and which sticks out the most to you?
Irene: I try out different mediums just because it’s fun for myself–I like that it challenges me to create new things. I am most comfortable with graphite, acrylic, and watercolor. I like those three [mediums] because when I'm painting specifically, I visualize doing it layer by layer, which is my technique on how I create things. Acrylic and watercolor easily allow me to do that. I also like oil painting because of how it never fully dries or hardens. I enjoy how the colors interact with each other and how you can't predict how it's going to turn out.
F: Congratulations on having your art featured in the art exhibit, “Positive Exposure: Southern California Asian American Art”. What was the process like of having your work accepted there? How does it differ from creating your student art exhibit in 2022?
I: Sophia, my intern director, posted about the opportunity, and Christine, my friend, knew that I was an Asian American artist, so she invited me to apply. Even though I was invited to apply, it was still very validating to have my work displayed in a public setting. Compared to a student exhibit, it is very different, especially because you're seeing a lot more new people, and since it's a group exhibit, it invites a lot of other non-student viewers that would have been harder to meet otherwise. To have people of all ages approach me and say, “Wow, this really resonated with me, and I love what you're doing”, was just a very validating experience.
Having my solo exhibit back in my senior year of college was different. For that exhibit, it was a lot more pressure because I was creating it myself, and I needed to have a vision of how I was going to install everything. It was a two-day process where I was not sleeping. I was proud of how it came together in the end though, and it pushed me to see how I wanted my art pieces to interact with one other. For example, adding other elements, like chairs and the carpet, gives a more domestic feel and setting for my paintings to kind of live in.
I also had an exhibition with Arc Studios and Gallery during this past summer in San Francisco, and then I had another one in Palo Alto for the Palo Alto Art Center.
F: How is it balancing your nine-to-five and working on your art as well?
I: Honestly, it's something that I still struggle with, even though the job I'm working at is still art-related. It's simultaneously inspiring because I work with a lot of students who are in middle and high school, so it's inspiring to see how hard they work to build the start of their practice. It’s motivating because it pushes me to work on my [own] art, but then I struggle with the pressure of making good art. I have to overcome this pressure by just doing it. Sketchbook illustrations are what I enjoy doing the most currently. It's a lot less pressure and it still lets me be creative without thinking about all of the pre-planning of what I want to go into a piece.
Art shouldn’t be thinking of how the end product will be, but rather how it makes you feel in the moment. I wouldn't tell another person or artist to plan every little step to make sure it's “good” art, because there's no such thing. I'm trying to be nicer and more forgiving to myself.
F: Looking back at your college experience and to where you are now, what is some advice you would give to someone studying art in college, or getting into art post-grad?
I: My advice would be to find a strong community and support system of other creatives, not necessarily people who work in the same field as you. For me, I have a lot of friends who are into film, photography, or acting, and so seeing them pursue their passions encourages me to pursue my own, [and it especially helps] being able to talk with them and relate to one another as artists.
My other advice for post-grad is to be kind to yourself. Whether you have a creative block or are suffering from burnout, do not push yourself too hard, and let yourself take that break if you need to. Pursue other hobbies, because if you try new things, you may find that it inspires you and your art in unexpected ways.
