Eve Shi, SWAYE Artist, created a piece called “Heroes in Harms Way” for the SWAYE August Issue. Matthew Chen (Founder, Editor-In-Chief) interviewed Eve to learn about her artistic process, inspirations, and goals.
Q. What kind of art do you do?
Eve: I mainly work on digital art and oil paintings modeled by other artists.
Q. How and when did you become interested in it?
Eve: I have been taking art classes since I was very young, and have always been interested in it.
Q. How do your family and friends play a part in you pursuing your art?
Eve: My family influenced me by always supporting me to paint and go out with teachers for inspiration and sketches from real life. My grandfather, who is passionate about traditional Chinese painting, has been encouraging me since the beginning. My friends also influenced me by communicating ideas and being inspiration.
Q. Would you say your family is supportive of your art?
Eve: Yes, my family is supportive of my art. They encourage me to try different styles and give me suggestions.
Q. Why did you join SWAYE?
Eve: I joined SWAYE because I noticed this is an organization that has a lot of potential to actually create an impact.
Q. What memorable responses have you had to your work?
Eve: Some memorable responses I had to my works are things like “you should be an artist/go into the field.”
“Even though I am very passionate in art, I always know that this will not be my profession, so these responses are like affirmations that lead me to continue painting as a hobby.”
Q. What is your process like for creating an art piece?
Eve: First, I usually brainstorm a short story about the theme and some elements that could be in the framework. After having the main story, I compose the main characters or scenes on the screen. Other things to consider in the process are compositions, color combinations, and textures.
“Other things to consider in the process are compositions, color combinations, and textures.”
Q. Describe a real-life situation that inspired you?
Eve: Some real-life situations that inspired me are that my parents constantly travel between China and LA, so sometimes I stayed with their friends for months. This helped me to become independent.
Q. Who or what are your greatest inspirations?
Eve: Some of the greatest inspirations are light sources. With different light sources, I can feel my style changing with it, which is a great way to get out of some old habits.
Q. What about your culture do you find inspiring?
Eve: I lived in China for the first twelve years of my life before I moved to LA with my family. Traditional Chinese has a great impact on my way of thinking and much else. So what’s inspiring might be trying to combine traditional Chinese elements with all kinds of things happening around us in America.
“So what’s inspiring might be trying to combine traditional Chinese elements with all kinds of things happening around us in America.”
Q. What is your ultimate goal as an artist?
“To be able to tell my story with my own art style.”
Check out Eve’s project for this month: “Astronaut” here!
Eve’s Social Media links: