California
Hsin-Yao Tseng, Outside the Hat Store, oil, 16 x 16.
What inspired your winning entry? This is a hat store I often visit in the North Beach area in San Francisco called Goorin Bros. I love the feeling inside the store. It has a vintage vibe, with hats displayed in mahogany library shelves and antique cabinets. You can expect a unique experience and personal service in this charming shop. I decided to bring my friend Nicole Album to this place for modeling. I had her try on a cloche hat and then pose around the store.
How does the painting fit in with the rest of your body of work? I love painting figures and cityscapes. This particular piece fits in both genres.
What are you trying to convey to the viewer in this piece and in your work in general? The world has become unpredictable, fast-paced, and loaded with conventional imagery. Nothing stays the same, and changes of all sorts push their way through life and our neighborhoods. Therefore, I want to remind people of the ordinary scenes that express the interaction between people in an environment. I want to capture the simple concepts of joy, love, and anything else that exists around us but that we don’t normally notice.
How would you describe your style? Realistic impressionism. My works are lush evocations of San Francisco and other cities, expressive portraits, and lustrous interiors in which multiple figures enact a story.
Where did you study art? The Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
What galleries represent your work? Legacy Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ, Jackson, WY, and Bozeman, MT; Waterhouse Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA; InSight Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX; The Garden Gallery, Half Moon Bay, CA; Howard/Mandville Gallery, Kirkland, WA; Christian Daniels Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Featured in the December 2014 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
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