Today we’d like to introduce you to Sureeporn Sompamitwong.
Hi Sureeporn, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
My story started when I had to move back home from working in the fashion industry in Los Angeles to Worthington MN. I had a mental breakdown at work, which led me to the mental institution, and I was later diagnosed with bipolar. During my time at a community college. I found solace through art. I discovered how powerful and healing art was to me. I got into painting and sculpting.
Through that journey, one of my friends pointed out that he liked my artwork and that I should put it on a tee shirt and sell it. I liked that idea, but I didn’t execute it until 3 years later. It was when I won the artist residency program through the Department of Public Transformation, was when I won a grant that allowed me to invest in my clothing brand, and that’s how Art Invasionz was born.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road, but a rewarding road. At the time, when I first started my clothing line, I was still going to school full time and working full time at the Southwest Crisis Center. My mental health was not good due to being exposed to so much secondary trauma at my job. So that time for me was difficult. However, I persisted and continued to push forward. I had this deep sense of knowing, that I was supposed to be doing this.
And I had a purpose larger than me. My clothing line is a platform to advocate for social justice and mental health, and for artists to have a voice. This past October, we went to Los Angeles for Asian LA Fashion Week. Again, I was working a full-time job, running my non-profit, Creative Healing Space, and trying to plan my fashion fundraiser and also plan for the LA trip. It was a lot. But I did it. I would always write a to-do list, and cross things off.
That’s how I kept moving forward. Another struggle I would say, is getting my community to see the importance of the arts and fashion like how I see it. Sometimes the older community leaders, don’t seem to recognize that and support it. But it doesn’t matter, because I know that there are still others who do.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I like to call the type of art that I do “raw art”. They are whatever I feel like making at the time. It’s typically dark and moody and it always has a message behind them. When I was heavily producing artwork, I would make a lot of art that’s about my battle with having a mental illness. It was my meaning to the journey that I was going through.
Other ones are about healing and letting go. Some other work could be more political like the one with the world over the head and a bar code as a face. It’s about feeling like another product in the capitalistic world. I also love making sculptures. I have made a couple of huge life-sized sculptures that have a tie between mother nature, healing, and what it means to be a woman. I am planning to make several more and start a collection called Stone Cold.
I am known for creating artwork with meaning, it’s pretty abstract, yet makes you feel. I am most proud of my sculptures because they take months or even years to make. What sets me apart from others is my commitment to my missions and visions. My artwork always tells a story, and I hope it will inspire growth and healing in others.
We all have different ways of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is being able to be your highest authentic self and following the blueprint of what you believe is right for you in your heart.
For me, I am living my dream life. Being able to have a clothing line that promotes mental health and social justice through art and fashion. As well as running a non-profit that promotes healing and creativity. I am feeling successful in my endeavors, and I will keep paving my path.
Pricing:
- $30
- $50
- $150
Contact Info:
- Website: www.creativehealingspace.org
- Instagram: Art Invasionz and Creative Healing Space MN
- Facebook: Art Invasionz and Creative Healing Space MN
