Anna Strong

Anna Strong is a visual artist based in San Diego, CA with a love and curiosity for abstract art. As a child she would spend her free time exploring art and creativity in various ways, though her life veered onto a more technical route when she pursued her formal education in the field of civil engineering. She received her Bachelors in Civil Engineering from Michigan State University in 2015 and has worked as a consultant in the civil engineering field since graduation. This hiatus from producing artwork is ultimately what led her back to her creative roots – exploring art in a form that doesn’t have to be technically or realistically correct proved to be an interesting contrast to her daily work. Since rediscovering her love of maintaining an art practice in 2020, Anna has participated in several shows in her home state of Michigan, including the West Side Art Hop in Ann Arbor, the DIYpsi Artist and Makers Event in Ypsilanti, and has been a featured artist at the Gutman Gallery. Since moving to San Diego in the fall of 2024, she has been returning to her practice (after finally unpacking) and is a participating artist in the Hillcrest First Thursdays Walk in Art.

“I have often felt myself standing at the boundary between worlds: White and Asian, engineer and artist, hoarder that requires clutter-free space to focus. My brain has a hard time compartmentalizing things that look “loud”, and yet it craves to get lost in the complexity of a painting with a multitude of elements in it. The exploration of creating art that represents organized chaos is my way of making sense of my mind and the world around me, and I find abstract art particularly thought provoking. What makes a piece pleasing to look at without it clearly representing anything? How do two people look at the same drawing and walk away with different experiences? For me, my eyes are drawn to places where two concepts are on the cusp of each other – black and white, order and chaos – and how they interact with each other. Much of my work attempts to find balance between flow and softness and spaces where disorder is allowed to reign free. My abstract work, despite being deeply personal, somehow also remain a mystery to me. Creating is a way of exploring that mystery, and every conversation with someone who connects with my art adds to its meaning and my purpose. For me, art is the way in which we try to make sense of this life. And that process isn't truly complete until we share it with others. Description of Work This piece, "Return to New", is a continuation of my abstract series I call My Sunday Brain. It's an exploration of organizing chaotic elements into a cohesive piece. The color story is one that I would not naturally pick, which revitalized a familiar style and encouraged me to look at something seemingly familiar in a different lens. The bright, bold colors set against a backdrop of black and white encourage a sense of play amidst structure.”

Return to New

Pen and Ink, Colored Pencil

11" x 14" x 0"

$1,200.00

2024

This piece, "Return to New", is a continuation of my abstract series I call My Sunday Brain. It's an exploration of organizing chaotic elements into a cohesive piece. The bright, bold colors set against a backdrop of black and white encourage a sense of play amidst structure.