Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah E. Huang.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I’m a visual artist based out of Delray Beach, FL. I fancy myself to be painting and drawing focused, but I dabble in mixed media works as well. I recently left my full-time job in the talent acquisition and account management field to re-immerse myself into my studio practice. Growing up, I never saw myself pursuing my art as a profession; I deeply feared that if I turned my fervent hobby into a career, I would end up steering away from it as an adult. This hasn’t been true…at all; my “hobby” as a child quickly grew into something more serious by the time I entered college. My passion for the arts runs deep and I cannot imagine myself doing anything else with my life. Since I was working in the corporate world for a little over two years out of college, I worked incredibly hard to pursue my art on the side and keep it alive. I’ve exhibited locally in the South Florida Arts and Culture scene, and I’ve been honored to work beside some truly amazing talent. It’s liberating to take charge of your vision, your passions, and run wild.
Please tell us about your art.
This is a really hard question, not because it’s hard to describe what I create, but because my practice and my focus is constantly changing. I never stick to one idea, and I really like challenging myself to keep working through different themes and experiences.
I’m not one to sit down and wait for the inspiration to strike; creating art, in any field, takes work. It’s time. It’s exploration. It’s working your way through a problem and coming to some degree of resolution. I’m making something at least once a day, even if it’s super small.
During my undergrad days, my work was heavily inspired by the physical ailments I was experiencing with my stomach and carpal tunnel syndrome — post-graduation, I really wanted to shift that and make work that wasn’t as visceral or referential to my body. My goal with what I make (in general) is that someone wants to get close to it–they want to see the details, the etching of my pencil, the marks I lay down with paint and brushes. I want them to derive some feeling from it.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
I don’t know if I can speak for all artists, because I think it is something that stretches across all mediums and it will differ person to person, artist to artist. I can only speak for my own experiences, and I think one of the biggest challenges for me was managing the balancing act of working outside of the arts field, while still striving to produce consistent and quality work to put out there. Applying to shows, residencies, coming up with project proposals, can become overwhelming if you don’t manage your time effectively. In my experience, I felt like I was living a double life; it was incredibly difficult to do everything I wanted to do in the greater scope of my work, but also maintain a livelihood and bring home a living wage to fund my work and living situation. I think one of the bigger struggles is being able to make some critical sacrifices for yourself if you want to keep pushing the envelope.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
In 2016 I worked closely with international Swiss Artist, Claudia Comte on a mural for Collins Park at the Bass Museum of Art for Art Basel Public. In 2017, I exhibited at the Box Gallery for their All Florida Abstract Exhibition for their 1-year anniversary; just after that, I exhibited at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach. I was also a part of the City of Fort Lauderdale’s Open Canvas Project, which was a public art project put together by the City, Art Serve, and Kelcie McQuaid of Shangri-La Creations.
Within the last few months, I exhibited at a pop-up exhibition at C&I Studios in FATVillage for an ACLU charity event; in the same week, I was also a participating artist at the Coral Springs Festival of the Arts, where I was the winning artist of the Urban Paintout Contest, judged by Ivan Roque. If you’re in the Coral Springs area anytime soon, I have my painting featured at the Museum through the end of the summer.
I had some works on exhibition at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center following their ArtPop! event. Currently, I have 6 paintings housed at Two& in Fort Lauderdale until the end of July through Shangri-La Creations’ Summer Art Series exhibition. All are for sale!
Otherwise, people can support my work just by following me on Instagram, Facebook, Society6. All links are featured on my website.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sarahehuang.com
- Phone: 5617068597
- Email: sarah.e.huang@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/sarahehuang
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/sarahehuang
Image Credit:
Image credits: Sarah E. Huang; The Coral Springs Museum of Art; Eleanor B. Huang; Kelcie McQuaid
Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
