Today we’d like to introduce you to Diane Sun.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
Born and raised in China until the age of 13, I decided to come to the US and start a new life here with my families. Different from my hometown, which is away from water and mountains, San Diego is a paradise decorated with palm trees and beautiful beaches. Everyone told me I’ve made the best decision in my life residing here,
I was born in a family of veterans, artists, teachers, and doctors. Each of my family members comes from a distinctive cultural and occupational background, and this atmosphere had prepared me to enter my new life here in the US.
Please tell us about your art.
My mother always says that there are artistic elements in my gene. Both of my parents are passionate about photography, and I was heavily influenced since I was little. Most children knew to look into the lens and smile until the shutter releases, but I was told to think deeper than that. “Photography is fused with all kind of things,” as per my mother.
When I moved to the US and resided in California, I soon realized that I came to the most wonderful place in the world. I spent most of my extracurricular time painting and photographing things I saw and loved, and this manner had nurtured me a sense of discovery and appreciation.
My college years were spent in floating design projects and stacks of photography prints, but I had extended that artistic sense to a new level — I finally realized what my mother meant when she explained the definition of photography. It’s a fusion of passion and love of life. I brought my camera to almost every place I’d been to, captured whatever was displayed in my sight in various angles, and learned that it’s no longer a habit of mine, but a part of my life instead.
Another reason I choose photography as my medium is that I want to let more audiences back in China to know more about San Diego, the city I’ve been living in for more than 13 years. When most people talk about the State of California, they know a lot more about Los Angeles and San Francisco, but rarely speak about San Diego. I want to express the beauty of this jewel to those who barely know about this city and my secondary hometown, with multiple landscapes, portraits and daily photography works of mine.
What do you think about conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
I think the contemporary environment is perfect for artists to expand their works and inspirations. The world is developing and changing rapidly. We have more opportunities and methods to communicate with one another, which is ideal for further development in the art fields. I believe that it can be both easier and harder for artists to express themselves nowadays because we have more advanced solutions and digital supports for researching and problem-solving, but meanwhile, the audiences become more strict because of higher expectations. Therefore artists may need to work harder to meet the demands and expectations of our potential audiences an customers.
San Diego is definitely an ideal city for expanding the art world, and it can be as much more popular if we have more events and planning to introduce art to more people, so they can realize the value of art and artists.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
Most of my works are posted on my Instagram account (_momosun_ and mos_portraitstudio), and my Weibo account (which is known as the Chinese version of Twitter).
People support my artwork by interacting with me under my posts, and exchange contact information with me to further discuss or collaborate.
Contact Info:
- Email: dianesun726@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/_momosun_
Image Credit:
Diane Sun
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