Today we’d like to introduce you to Sureya Davis.
Sureya, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
Change isn’t a bad thing… this is a statement that has defined my life thus far and will probably continue to be the definition of my future. And although a good majority of the population might disagree with me, this way of thinking developed was something that I had to adopt to “deal” with my unique childhood.
I grew up as a military brat. And as the daughter of a United States Marine, the military taught me that change isn’t necessarily horrible. Instead, I adopted the opposite way of thinking, I learned to embrace change; traveling, easily became my ordinary and starting over was what I viewed as unpredictable consistency, but because this lifestyle was my normal, I was always in search for solidarity. While my two sisters took to new languages and intellectual challenges, I found my constant in art.
With that said, creating has always been something I enjoyed, whether it be writing, cooking, drawing, or painting, I always found happiness doing something that stimulated my “right brain”. And because I was never academically sound and college was always an encouragement in my household, I ultimately found who I am as an artist while attending the Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD).
At LCAD, I discovered my artistic strengths and weaknesses, it’s where I learned how to accurately draw a portrait, how to compose an interesting image, and thankfully where I discovered my love for painting and what direction I needed my artwork to go in. As a result of my childhood, the ordinary in my life wasn’t specific to a house that I grew up in, rather friends, family, and familiar objects became my home. And because this fact is such a huge part of my life, it only made sense to design a body of work that lends a hand to speak this journey.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
The direction that I have been currently going in my artwork is a combination of portraiture and contemporary still life’s. Recently, I’ve been enjoying painting/drawing my family, friends, and ordinary objects… I find my happiness in the mundane. The things that I get to see everyday, are what seem to hold the most weight in my life and my artwork. And I hope when people see them, my work will hold a certain amount of weight for them as well. It doesn’t have to be mean the same thing to them as it does to me, everyone has their own unique story, but if one of my pieces can speak to someone in an honest way, I would say that whatever piece it was, was successful.
What do you know now that you wished you had learned earlier?
It’s still very early on in my career, so I don’t feel as though I have a ton of advice for upcoming artists, but what I would like to say to someone just starting out is to have faith in yourself and why you create. You are creating for a reason separate to the person next to you, so try not to compare yourself to whoever you may think is a stronger artist or has a stronger voice. You are you. You have to be authentic to yourself and even if it’s not happening at this very moment, if you keep creating through honesty, your voice will eventually be heard. I would also advise every artist to apply to every competition, scholarship, and grant that they can find, what is there to lose? Also, I found that learning from someone farther along in the process is very effective so, try to go and learn from someone more advanced than yourself. Even if it’s through a three day workshop or a four year college, it is very worth learning from someone, one can never truly stop learning.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Over the past few months, my work has been in several different exhibitions in Laguna Beach and I currently have a piece hanging in the art portion of the OC fair in Costa Mesa. In October, I will have three more pieces on display in the Wells Fargo Exhibition, also in Laguna. Other than that, my work is viewable on my website: sureyadavis.com or for a more informal view, one can visit my Instagram: @_sureya_.
Contact Info:
- Website: sureyadavis.com
- Phone: 9492280903
- Email: sureyadavisart@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_sureya_/
Image Credit:
Makayla Davis
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