Interview
Suyapa Quinn
After graduating with a Fine Arts Degree from the University of Madrid, Spain and another degree in Graphic Design from Pratt Institute, New York, Suyapa continued her graduate studies at the School of Visual Arts, New York, specializing in Computer Animation. She started as a tour guide for the Metropolitan Museum of Art/ the Cloisters before working as an Animator, Package Designer, Illustrator, Graphic Designer and Art Director at various times. She paid her dues as a Graphic Designer in New York specializing in silkscreening, animation, airbrush and the reproduction of paintings. She taught art in New York public high schools in Queens, New York, and art therapy at the Harlem Hospital Center, New York, N.Y.
Additionally, Suyapa has published cartoons and illustrations worldwide through the Image Bank, Shutterstock and JCA, Inc. She was the owner and Art Director of her own company, Image Perfect, from 2000 until 2008. Suyapa’s art has been exhibited (as solo shows) at the Galeria Ten, Barcelona, Spain, Edward Williams Art Gallery, NJ, Museum of Temporary Art in Washington, D.C. Her paintings are included in permanent collections at: The Carrol Reece Museum in Tennessee The Charles Dickens Museum, London, UK The Gallery of the Banco Central de Honduras in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I am a female Hispanic artist who was born and raised in Honduras. I was creative from an early age. I started in Architect School at the University of Madrid and one year later I switch to Fine Arts because I was unhappy. Architecture was too constraining for creativity. I was always an artist but also enjoyed planning and building things. I feel sorry for people who go to work each day lacking passion for what they do. I moved to New York City right after school as this is where I’ve always wanted to live as an artist, and that's when my artistic journey truly begins. I absorbed all the artistic influences from my teachers and peers. We need to learn to be audacious and bold in our art, not scared of mistakes. George Nama was one of my professors at Pratt. He helped me refine my technique and creative process so I could be a better visual storyteller and encouraged me to explore new mediums, styles, and techniques into my work.”
What inspires you?
“A hope or ambition of achieving; a goal. Inspiration is the process of being mentally stimulated to do of feel something; especially to do something creative. I paint discarded objects. I use oil paints to disrupt the purity of the blank canvas. Life is so fragile and beautiful, and I compare it with the objects I paint and what they mean to me.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“Artwork often reflects on the human experience, including emotions, relationships. Love and beauty are also common themes in my artwork, it often reflects on the passage of time, aging and the impermanence of life.”
How would you describe your work?
“My art is a statement. You don’t need an explanation, so people can understand it. Let me start by saying that my art is a way of communicating I like to digital and the traditional way illustrate too, which is why Gouche colors are a big part of the body of work I enjoy it painting pallet knife, I like color, texture and the effect. My life revolves around the hues, the chromes, the crimson, the blue’s and the black’s.”
Which artists influence you most?
“Salvador Dali, René Magritte, Pablo Picasso, Giorgio De Chirico and George Brague have all been influential to me.”
“Love and beauty are also common themes in my artwork, it often reflects on the passage of time, aging and the impermanence of life.”
What is your creative process like?
“I am an artist, and my work can be labeled as expressionist, a term art historians use to describe art that is fundamentally emotional in nature. Expressionist aim to express their own emotions, and evoke emotional responses from their viewers. My environment helps me to get creative. I find beauty every day in trash. Art is something we do. Art is an expression of our thoughts, emotions, intuitions, and desires, but it is even more personal than that: it’s about sharing the way we experience the world.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“My role in society as and artist is to influence, provoke emotion and inspire others to create.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“In 2023, I participated in the ‘ART BASEL’ in Switzerland, and later in the Zurich 5.0 art exhibition of Artbox. Projects in Switzerland. The Blue Door Gallery and Yonkers Arts gallery in the last year as well.”
