Meet Terry Tsu | Bay Area Painter and Multi-faceted Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Terry Tsu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Terry, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
The line between work and life at this point is a little blurred. I’ve always been an over-achiever, people-pleaser and my own worst critic. That’s not a great recipe for work-life balance. However, I’ve learned over time to try not to do everything myself and most importantly, allow myself to be me.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a painter/sculptor/multi-faceted artist. I like working in different mediums and techniques (oil paint, acrylic, mixed media, collage, sculpture, fiber art, etc.) I tend to be messy and experimental. I love the physicality of making art, whether it be mushing paint around a canvas or using power tools to build a sculpture.

My art is very driven by mood and materials. My paintings can vary from large, energetic and wildly gestural canvases to smaller, more controlled, hard-edged, geometric works. I am influenced by world events as well as things that happen in my everyday life. My work is usually abstract, although sometimes an recognizable figure might appear. Recently, I completed a series of 50 self-portrait collages, inventing the technique as I went.

In addition to painting and 2D work, I also make sculpture from found objects. A couple of recent pieces were made from an old skateboard that I found in my neighbor’s trash. It was bright yellow and had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle on it. How could I resist! The finished pieces are titled Scavenger Ninja 1 and 2. In another sculpture, I cut up my mother’s clothes after she died and made a 7-foot-tall woven totem. It took me 1000 hours to make and was incredibly healing.

I never know what will spark an idea. Sometimes I have too many ideas. Sometimes I have none. My work varies from one series to the next. I’m always learning. I’m never bored. Or maybe I’m easily bored. In any case, there is a common thread from series to series. My work is characterized by saturated color and a certain rawness. It is very direct.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My best friends are not artists, so I don’t always take them to galleries and museums that I I love to visit in the Bay Area. But one thing we definitely have in common is FOOD! We grew up in the Philippines and the Bay Area is home to many great Filipino (and other ethnic) restaurants and markets. Lech Go! (a mom-and-pop turo-turo restaurant) and Valerio’s (Filipino Bakery) in Daly City are sentimental favorites. We also like Karilagan and Auntie Em’s in South San Francisco.. But there are SO many good ethnic restaurants to fit all tastes and budgets. My friends and I are avid gardeners, too, so I like bringing them to Succulent Gardens in Castroville, the Wave Garden in Richmond Point, Annie’s Annuals and Half Moon Bay Nursery and Flora Grubb in SF, to name a few.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
A big shout out to Jen Tough (www.jentough.gallery) who has supported so many emerging artists like me especially during the recent few years. At the start of the pandemic, she was forced to close her new Santa Fe gallery a week before it was supposed to open. Instead, she created the Artist Alliance (www.artistallianc.space) to help artists navigate this unprecedented situation. She conducted online workshops and designed monthly creative challenges. She produced online exhibits and produced books of members’ work. Jen and the Artist Alliance community she created were truly a godsend to me.

I also thank my lucky stars for my husband Dennis. He retired a few of years ago and took over all of life’s everyday chores. Now I can lose myself in the studio until I hear him call, “Dinner’s ready!” I’m no starving artist 🙂

Website: www.terrytsu.com

Instagram: @terrytsu.art

Other: www.jentough.gallery

Image Credits
Dennis Tsu