Daily Busan
A conversation with artist Sarah Soh
Sarah Soh practices fluid art. Also known as acrylic pouring, fluid art is a painting technique where artists pour diluted paint directly onto a surface. Instead of using brushes, artists manipulate the paint with non-traditional tools to create mesmerizing patterns and images.
Ms. Soh presented her work at the Focus Art Fair 2022 at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris.
Q. Please introduce yourself and your artwork to Daily Busan subscribers.
My name is Sarah. I’m an artist and freelance teacher in Busan. I’ve been here for 15 years. I teach in schools and academies when I am not working on my art.
I’m a fluid figurative artist. I use fluid art techniques to create figurative art. Basically, I pour acrylic paint to form animals, shapes and objects, which we call figurative art. This technique requires a high degree of technical skills because I do not use any brushes while painting.
Q. You have fascinating and innovative art skills. Is there a specific reason why you use fluid art techniques?
Actually, I’m very good at painting with brushes. I mean, I’m an art major, so obviously I’m very good at that. But the thing is, when I paint with brushes, I have too much control. As an artist, I’m a perfectionist; because of that, I find a lack of freedom and freestyle in my paintings.
When I first saw the fluid art technique a long time ago, I thought it was cool in the sense that you just mix paints, pour them onto a canvas, and blow the paint with a hair dryer to create abstract art.
However, making figurative art with that pouring technique is challenging since you can’t use brushes or pencil strokes to manipulate the image. When I first tried it, I just poured the paint and made abstract images to see what the paint looked like all mixed together. It was really messy. The paint just flew everywhere when I used a hair dryer.
When the paints were mixed, I thought the colors were so ugly. However, I studied the technique and kept trying. After my tenth attempt, I decided to try and manipulate the paint into shapes. I used straws to blow the paint and form a tiger’s or lion’s face. Since then, I enhanced my skills and created my own way of pouring that allows me to create figurative art. Anyone can use this technique to create abstract art, but creating figurative art by pouring is very difficult.
Q. Do you have any paintings inspired by Busan?
Yes! I have this huge painting of a tiger I made during the Year of the Tiger in 2022. It was inspired by Busan’s beaches, but it’s too abstract, so people can’t seem to understand what I was trying to portray.
It’s like a tiger wave. When the waves crash, a tiger is formed by the waves. That was one of the hardest pours I’ve ever done, actually. The bigger the painting is, the more difficult it is to pour. You can see it on my Instagram.
Q. As a foreign resident, do you have any recommendations for enhancing the city’s appeal or amenities?
Life is great here, but I think people should be more open-minded. A lot of people here are still very conservative compared to people in Seoul.
Second, I have to mention the people who recruit and hire English teachers. They still prefer teachers who have white skin, and I think it’s really unfair. What students need is a good teacher, whatever their skin color is.
Q. Busan is becoming more global than in the past. Do you have any ideas for making Busan more global?
Sure. I’ve lived in big cities all my life, like London, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul. I find that Busan is a big city itself, but it’s very clean compared to the cities I mentioned. It’s not as complex as Seoul, and there are many ways to expand it, not just in terms of tourism.
I think some big companies should move down to Busan so that not everything is centralized in Seoul. In this way, Busan can create opportunities for young people living in Busan or other cities in the region. Nowadays, many young people think they need to be in Seoul to fit in or earn more money.
After living here for many years, I find that Busan has a lot of great aspects. The beaches here are wonderful, people here are down-to-earth and everything is just great. However, we need more companies to make Busan a better metropolis.
※ Check out Sarah’s artwork!
◎ Instagram: @sarahsoh_art
◎ YouTube: https://youtube.com/user/sarahsohmeiling
◎ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahsoh.ml/
◎ Saatchi Art:
<Today's Vocabulary - 오늘의 단어>
fluid art: 물감이 흐르는 효과로 그림을 표현하는 방식 dilute: 희석하다 surface: 표면 manipulate: 조작하다 mesmerize: 혼을 빼놓는 figurative art: 조형 미술 pour: 붓다 major: 전공 perfectionist: 완벽주의자 lack: 부족 freedom: 자유 blow: 불다 abstract art: 추상화 challenging: 어려운 attempt: 시도 enhance: 향상시키다 portray: 묘사하다 wave: 파도 crash: 부딪히다 conservative: 보수적인 compared to: ~에 비교해서 recruit: 채용하다 hire: 고용하다 prefer: 선호하다 unfair: 불공평한 complex: 복잡한 expand: 확장하다 centralized: 중앙에만 몰려있는 opportunity: 기회 aspect: 양상 metropolis: 대도시
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