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Suboart Magazine

11 questions with Soraia Sü

Hello Soraia, thanks for doing this interview with me. To start with, I would love to go back in time with you; how did you get into visual art in the first place?

I have always been attracted to Art in general, whether it be dance, theater, music and manual work. I also found that it was a way of concretizing my thoughts and making them a means of personal expression. I read that you fell in love with ceramics in 2011. What fascinates you about this technique?

I was able to do salt dough workshops with my mother when I was a child and that perhaps led me to explore this subject unconsciously. I really like this technique because clay quickly takes shape and it is a material that allows an endless artistic exploration: from a ball of clay to a piece that comes to life.

Your works have organic shapes and are colourful and bright. Can you please speak more about them?

I try to transmit a breath of life to each of my creations which represent my current state of mind, whether they are colorful or darker. My color selection is always made in the moment by observing the final shape of the piece. I trust my instinct and never regret my choices because everything has a reason. Is there any specific piece that you’d like to speak about more in detail? Yes, I would like to talk about my work on ceramic paintings because I particularly like painting and being able to display my ceramics on the walls. It’s a new approach that allows me to explore an other technique than painting on canvas, another way of contemplating a painting.

I like the names of your pieces. To me, they sound like names of people. Do they have any meaning and how do you choose them?

I choose them based on what the creation evokes in me; it has to be natural and obvious. For me, giving such a personal name to a work is giving it life. Each of my creations has a soul: the time spent with them, the time in which I interacted with them…

You live as an emerging artist in Paris and you are currently at the very start of your career. How is your day to day as an emerging artist and what are the challenges that you are facing?

I don’t put limits on the creative process, each day is different depending on my inspirations. I don’t have a particular routine. I really like doing exhibitions, which allows me to get out of my studio a little and open myself up to other artistic visions. I also like painting, drawing… continue to experiment with other mediums. My main challenge is to make my art visible and to be recognized by both the public and professionals; gallery owners, art critics, etc.

A question I always ask is about the creative process. Could you please share yours with me, from the start of a piece until it’s finished?

I have two different techniques: either I draw beforehand and bring my idea to life, or I am instinctive and let myself be carried away… I consider a piece finished when it is perfect in its imperfection. I no longer go over it, I move on to something else, for me it is the realization of its uniqueness.

Paris is a city full art, with many artists and galleries. I wondered what you are looking for in a piece of art when you are the viewer and not the creator, for example when you visit an exhibition?

I look for the general atmosphere, the importance of the scenography and the emotion that the work gives off. I am attracted by images, I really like taking the time to contemplate. And I am always very interested in the artist’s story.

Are you currently working on something that you’d like to speak about and /or do you have an upcoming project?

I work on abstract ceramic paintings with a new technique of superpositions and colors. I would really like to exhibit soon in Paris and Lisbon (where I was born) to be able to show my artistic universe.

Is there any fellow emerging artist you’d like to recommend and if so, what do you like about their work?

She’s not really an emerging artist but I really like the works of Anne Bregeaut and her dreamlike and poetic universe. www.annebregeaut.com

And my last question for you: what are your hopes for the future?

I hope that there will always be physical art and that AI will not replace it, that there will always be places where we can gather and that they will always be accessible to the general public. I talk about museums, galleries, fairs… I hope that connections among artists and in between artists and the public will not be only digital. I also hope that galleries will continue to highlight new emerging artists because it is such an important step for their development. And I’d like to say thank you very much to the Suboart team for your passion and support for the artists !

Interview by Nina Seidel – Suboart Magazine November 2023
© photo : Allan Ploux – Trendy Colors
www.suboartmagazine.com