Today we’d like to introduce you to Ahn Hee Strain.
Hi Ahn Hee, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a 34 year old Asian-American woman living in Austin, TX, my personal journey to this point has been unique to say the least. I was adopted from South Korea at 6 months old and raised on a farm in Clarksville, Maryland with my parents and five older siblings in an extremely loving and accepting environment.
Beginning with my earliest memories, art and creativity became my primary outlet and passion that later helped me personally navigate my roots and complex network of feelings. After graduating in 2009 with a BFA in Visual Communications and a concentration in Graphic Design, it was difficult to find a desirable job. However, soon after a letterpress company comprised of three women offered me a position. As I began to develop a greater understanding of my passions, my own feelings and the direction I needed to pursue; I was naturally led back to painting as a form of therapy. My sister, who is a social worker, suggested I research and evaluate Art Therapy as a potential career shift. Art Therapy would become an equally beneficial platform for me to grow personally and professionally while also helping others to heal.
I fell in love with Art Therapy as new career path and quickly compiled my portfolio and applied for graduate school. I landed in NYC for my master’s program. For the following eight years after graduation, I worked with a diverse group of individuals including those with developmental disabilities, trauma survivors, women veterans, addiction, and a variety of at-risk youth groups. This showed me how trauma works within the body and how powerful alternative forms of therapy such as Art Therapy can be for releasing stagnant energy and processing deep-rooted feelings.
After research and certifications, I opened my own practice in 2018, which provided individuals with Art Therapy and/or Reiki (Japanese technique of energy healing). As my practice began to grow, COVID-19 crippled NYC and my practice’s opportunity to work first-hand with my clients which led me to shut down the practice. During the first three months of quarantine, the isolation allowed me to shift my focus to processing my personal feelings and energy. I faced my own traumas head on, using writing, drawing, reading, reiki, meditation and exercise as outlets to release and recover. While the emotional process was rough and raw, I was met with gratitude and peace on the other side, knowing that my journey had just begun. This period of isolation in NYC generated a desire to begin a new chapter in a new location.
In October of 2020, I drove cross country from Maryland to Austin. I had some friends in Austin already which provided a layer of comfortability. I met my current partner shortly after the move to Austin which allowed me to settle into the new environment quickly. Painting resurfaced as I transitioned into my new space and more and more it began to pick up as a career.
To my own surprise, the interest level and support from my family, peers, and strangers was immediate and consistent which spurred me on to expose my personal artwork. My first introduction was though the East Austin Studio Tour 2021. Goals and milestones were set and accomplished in 2021, but this is just the beginning of a beautiful and fruitful personal journey.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As an adoptee born with an underdeveloped left hand, there has been a lifelong struggle to be accepted while remaining authentic to myself. This journey has taught me resilience, adaptability, and flexibility in a dynamic world. I have found that reintroducing myself to the solo act of painting has become the most fulfilling and comfortable space. After struggling through three battles of shingles and evolving my mental and emotional self-work during my final months in NYC, it felt timely to transition to a new chapter. Like all new chapters, they come with fear of the unknown, increased anxiety and financial uncertainty. To help supplement my art career and professional ambitions while providing structure, I work in retail part-time during the week. With the East Austin Studio Tour approaching, my anxiety and fear heightened significantly as I battled with the impending exposure of my personal artwork. As an introvert, I subconsciously avoid the spotlight, although I know that exposure is needed to make strides and grow as an artist and person.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My creative journey has shifted continuously as I have navigated my own personal discoveries. My self-proclaimed artistic ethos, ‘Uncharted flow’, meaning the pieces in my recent collection are meant to display movement, healing recovery, warming and calming energy that is free. My artwork is meant to capture the feeling and moment without destination or endpoint. An unbound story, experience, dance or the element of water, which is a neutralizer of our body are huge influences in this collection. I look back at previous pieces created over a decade ago and I can see the voids, tangled compartments, and stagnated energy. In the last five years, I have gained clarity and the ability to efficiently process feelings. My paintings more recently have elements of free flowing, unbound, calm, and warm energy.
As I have processed my own mental health, I want my art to attempt to help others heal. I am now beginning to witness the positive effects my art is having on others around me.
I believe my vulnerability and motivation to connect with others to share my story at this point in my journey has allowed the community to connect with me authentically. I strongly desire for my audience to see me for me fully, which is the first time in my life I have been confident in saying that.
What does success mean to you?
I view success as an open-ended attainable feeling comprised of many ever-changing elements. Micro-successes are aligned with the goals set out from the beginning. Success to me includes flexibility, adaptability, and the personal commitment to be comfortable with failure knowing I will try again. More specifically, my personal goals for 2022 include acceptance into a gallery, a collaborative or solo show, and hopes of replacing the structure of my retail job with a part-time art therapy position.
Contact Info:
- Email: ahnhee@artfulpeaks.com
- Website: artfulpeaks.com
- Instagram: @artfulpeaks
Image Credits
Sutton Gentry
