10 Questions with Sophie Lin

Sophie Lin is a multidisciplinary technician and artist born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan. Now based in New York City, she works primarily in the theater arts. She is a makeup artist, costume designer, fabric painter, and wig technician. She began creating from a very young age — mainly doing illustration, painting, drawing, and makeup art before she left Taiwan. After high school, she continued her education at SUNY Purchase College, studying theatrical costume design. She chose to remain in the theater arts after years of working alongside many talented theater artists whose inspiring work encouraged her to pursue a professional career as a theatre artist.

Growing up in a family of artists and writers made it impossible for her to see a future without art in her daily life. She felt as if it was impossible not to be an artist — stories form naturally in her mind, everything around her is a constant source of inspiration, and she finds it difficult to stop creating.

Post graduation, she has been working as a fabric painter and a wig & makeup artist for various productions across the United States. She has worked as a fabric painter for Broadway musicals such as Sweeney Todd (2023) and Hadestown National Tour (2023), worked as a wig and makeup artist for the Santa Fe Opera Season 2022 (Carmen, The Barber of Seville, Falstaff, Tristan und Isolde, M. Butterfly), and many more operative productions. Recently, she has traveled with Into The Woods National Tour (2023) as the associate wig supervisor.

sophielinart.com | @lianggg_bao

ARTIST STATEMENT

Sophie Lin thinks art just naturally came within her. To think of why she began to create, her upbringing definitely is a huge factor. Sophie's father was a brilliant writer, and her mother was a designer; she grew up surrounded by art, literature, and a loving supportive environment. There are art pieces and books everywhere in their house. Her father loved to take her whole family hiking or get closer to nature when they were free from school — they'd picked a place to sit after a long hike, usually on a giant rock or just underneath the trees, and started creating together. He'd give them a subject like "Above the clouds", "Running water," "The sound of wind," and they could create in any form — painting or drawing, essay or poem; and there's no right answer to each topics. They would talk about each other's work until the sunset gradually enveloped the sky, and heading back home with more thoughts in mind. She thinks that activity ignited her curiosity towards everything, especially storytelling, in many different ways.

Sophie decided to be an artist at the age of nine, one day she got very upset because she dropped her favorite ice cream on the floor, she hid in her father's studio to avoid talking to anyone in the house. There was a set of color pencils and sketchbook on his desk, the afternoon light from the window made them look as if they were glowing. She picked them up and started drawing the view from his studio, it was all the plants in his balcony and the mountains as the background, couple hours went like a second. When she finished the drawing, looking up to the window again — all the leaves from the outside were glittering as if they're smiling at her, telling her everything is going to be okay. She instantly felt the love and connection from her art to the outside world, then realized she could create happiness simply by listening to her heart and materialize the beauty she saw through her eyes. The creating process had healed her. She ran downstairs, told her parents she wanted to become an artist — if her creation had the power to heal herself, maybe one day people can be healed by her art too.

Most of her paintings and writings are inspired by her dreams, she dreams about three to fifteen dreams every night and she has been recording them since she was fourteen. She would be different people with different genders, different ages, different nationalities, different professions, and with completely different personalities in each dream. They are usually all complete stories. She'd live in each person's life for days, months or even years. She could be a writer in 1979 Germany, a vet in late 90s England, or a photographer living in early 2000 Japan with a whole different lifestyle and historical backgrounds. Sometimes she'd do research after waking up, and oddly enough the architectures, transportation systems, costumes would be matching with the history. And some dreams are just surreal. Sophie always find it difficult to answer when people asked her how to seek for inspirations — she doesn't seek for them, they come to her, they found her as a vehicle to tell the story, they chose her.

She's now a freelance makeup artist, illustrator, fabric painter and costume designer. She does a little bit of everything. Including sculpting, photography, and jewelry making outside of her profession. She thinks art itself is like a house with different windows. The artist own the house, all the windows are just different platforms for the storytelling but they all lead you to the artist mind and their imagination. She hopes to herself using the most sincere emotions to create from the bottom of her heart, sharing all her creation with the world as parts of her, so that people can find her or themselves through her art — to be seen and heal, like the moment of a nine-year-old Sophie first realized the simplicity and beauty in life.

INTERVIEW

Let’s talk about yourself first. Why are you an artist, and how did you become one?

To think of why I began to create, my upbringing definitely is a huge factor. I grew up surrounded by art and literature since my father was a brilliant writer and my mother was a designer/ CEO of the cultural foundation. Everything they create in everyday life is very inspiring — they taught me how to love, be kind, and be respectful. And to use art as my language to bring the world abundance and positivity. There are art pieces and books everywhere in my house. It’s quite difficult to find a moment not to learn and appreciate new things. They taught me how to be a good listener, and I fell in love with storytelling in many different ways. I decided to be an artist at the age of nine; one day, I got very upset because I dropped my favorite ice cream on the floor. I hid in my father’s studio to avoid talking to anyone in the house. There was a set of colored pencils and a sketchbook on his desk; the afternoon light from the window made them look as if they were glowing. I picked them up and started drawing the view from his studio. It was all the plants on his balcony and the mountains in the background; a couple of hours went like a second. When I finished the drawing, looking up to the window again — all the leaves from the outside were glittering as if they were smiling at me, telling me everything was going to be okay.
I instantly felt the love and connection from my art to the outside world, then realized I could create happiness simply by listening to my heart and materializing the beauty I saw through my eyes. I ran downstairs and told my parents I wanted to become an artist — if my creation had the power to heal myself, maybe one day people could be healed by my art too. My environment made me fall in love with art, and I found my soul the most comfortable to live in art.
I love exploring various mediums at any given moment, so I think I just naturally became one. I was a painter/illustrator before I started doing makeup art and went to study costume design in theater for college. They’re all connected in a way, just different forms of storytelling. Learning how to utilize various media also broadens your perspective and sharpens your mind. Art itself is to reveal the artists’ from within. It is their confession of life and their sincere heart.

How would you define yourself as an artist nowadays?

Now, I mainly focus on makeup & hair and fabric painting in theater art after graduating from college. But I still do a little bit of everything to keep myself active — anything related to costume, makeup, painting, photography, sculpting, writing, etc. Having the ability to create in many different ways is very exciting as an artist, and it forces you to learn new things every time you create and collaborate with others. Never stop seeking, giving, and receiving.

You have quite a unique approach and style. How did you develop it? Were you influenced by any artist or role model in particular?

Most of my paintings and writings are inspired by my dreams. I dream about three to fifteen dreams every night and have been recording them since I was fourteen. I would be different people with different genders, different ages, different nationalities, different professions, and completely different personalities in each dream. I’d live in each person’s life for days, months, or even years. Every morning, I would wake up thinking those precious stories found me. It would be such a waste not to share them, so I started writing them down and painting them. There are two artists who influenced me the most — Salvador Dali and Otto Dix. It might sound a little unrealistic, but I did dream of being Dali once before I knew anything about him. I was around eleven and had an extremely vivid, tense dream remembering how he spoke, how he looked into the mirror, fixing his facial hair and painting, even some details of his lifestyle. I woke up telling my father about the dream, and he said I could be Dali in the dream. I was stunned after doing research on him and started to admire his art. The first Dali painting I saw in person was “The Elephants”. It was an incredible moment, and I felt like the painting was still breathing. I felt connected to him ever since.
Otto Dix inspired me a lot after I first saw his work in Paris. I was in my teenage years visiting my godmother there. She’s a busy designer so most of the time I spent there was going to museums alone. One day, I met her younger designer friend, who got along with me pretty well, and he decided to show me around. We went to the Musee National d’Art Moderne, and I could never forget the moment when I stood in front of Otto Dix’s “Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden”. I halted for a long time and finally turned around, telling him, “I think I found one of my favorite paintings.” He smiled, “I stood where you are standing right now, saying the exact same thing to my friend when I first came to Paris 8 years ago.” After then, I strongly believe art can certainly bring people together surpassing the time and space. And his paintings inspired me until today. Many times, I’d recognize his paintings in different museums right away and felt so fortunate that he left so many incredibly powerful works to share with people. Both of their works had a huge emotional impact on me. Even if I chose makeup as my career now, I still carry those memories with me as a reminder to constantly look up to artists like them, finding my own way to move people and inspire people.

What messages are you trying to communicate with your art? And what do you think differentiates your approach from others?

The touch of love and beauty is also my belief in life. I want my art to bring certain positivity within people and ignite people to live with joy and cherish their surroundings. After starting to work with people in the theater, I’m more certain that love and beauty are like a ripple effect. People could easily be influenced by one another. Besides the aesthetic part, theater requires great communication skills as well. I chose to only bring positive energy into every space I enter no matter what happened in life since the world could be overwhelming enough for some people already.
Romain Rolland once said, “It is the artist’s business to create sunshine when the sun fails.” I bring warmth and love with me wherever I go, and I hope to inspire others to do the same.
A lot of times when I was applying makeup, I received comments like “makeup done by you is like a therapy session” — they felt great from the inside and out after my application. My other creations outside of my profession could seem to be a little dense sometimes. I put a lot of feelings in my creations, while I cannot express them through words. From the very beginning, I wished to become an artist — everything I give out to the world should be a spark that could light up the candles in people whenever they come close to my art. Just like stars in the sky, leading people to illuminate the kindness in their hearts and the light in their souls.

You work with several different mediums and techniques. What is your preferred one, the one you feel closer to yourself?

Acrylic paint is the top of my favorite medium. It dries up quite fast, so you get to create strong textures and feelings in a short amount of time. It also could show softness and strength at the same time, depending on how you play with it. For me, it’s like thoughts in one’s mind.
There was a moment that moved me the most in college. One night, I was painting my costume renderings for the show I was designing. After finishing them, I went out of my room to grab a cup of tea. My roommate at the time was sitting on the couch asking me, “when was the last time you painted?” I was confused as I had just painted many renderings. “I mean, when’s the last time you paint for yourself? Not for the show you’re designing or for others? Why did you start painting at the very beginning?” My heart stopped for a second, and I couldn’t breathe when I sat down. I’ve been using gouache and poster paint for years for all the illustrations and renderings that I’m achieving for others, to compromise and materialize the visions of people who I was collaborating with. At the beginning, I started creating because I found the process comforting and healing, and my friend’s questions basically reminded me of how long I hadn’t looked within. I went back to my room and pulled out all the acrylic paints that I’d abandoned for so long, listening to June: Barcarolle (The Seasons) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and started to paint. I was tearing up with joy when I laid my fingers and brushes with red and black paints on the canvas. I found myself once again and felt closer to my own heart while using my most familiar media, acrylic paint.

How has your art evolved over the years? And what inspired you to experiment?

I was a painter before I had any experience with makeup. During high school, I started to learn how to do makeup on my own and thought it would be fun if I could use my face as a canvas every night before I removed my basic makeup. Then, I started to do some research and collect makeup from different places. I loved horror movies at the time, so I’d recreate the looks from the films or simply create new crazy makeup. My parents would get scared every night when they got home and first thought I was possessed by demons or some sort. I thought it was really funny and cute. They slowly started to appreciate the passion I have for special effect makeup and started supporting me as they supported my art. It was back in the time when social media had just started as well, so people started to recognize my work on the internet and asked me to do their makeup. The peak season, of course, was Halloween. People would hire me to do makeup for events and concerts. It was quite flattering since I was still in school, and I received many opportunities as a beginner. After that, I began to enjoy makeup more — painting on different facial structures and skin tones with specific products, which renewed my perspective towards art and opened another door for me to create. The best part is you get to interact with people, too. I found it fascinating to learn new things from all my clients back then and learned how to talk to people as an introverted artist. Growing up in Taiwan, I didn’t get to encounter people of many various races, facial structures, and hair textures. I love how diverse this industry is in the United States. I chose to embrace my passion for makeup after graduating with a costume design degree. Fortunately, I’ve met so many wonderful mentors who are willing to teach me and guide me along the way. Now, I get to do all the things I love — from painting to makeup & hair and designing.

Is there anything else you would like to experiment with? Any medium or theme you would like to introduce into your work?

I developed my interest in resin recently. While working in the Santa Fe Opera, there were long waiting times in between scenes. I tried to stay creative, so I started to make my own jewelry — inspired by all the amazing designs I saw in New Mexico. I have loved pressing wildflowers since I was little and have just been collecting them in a little wooden box. After starting to experiment with resin, I found it delightful to preserve the beauty I collected in the past into something I could carry and share with others. I’d like to incorporate resin into my future creation with other mixed media, adding another layer of storytelling.

What about NFTs, Crypto art, and AI? Are you incorporating these mediums in your production as well?

In the process of my artistic creation, apart from my own continuous efforts to practice, I am fortunate to have the warm inheritances of some incredible master artists who told me the importance of using “heart” to create. I firmly believe that art that could move and inspire people must be nourished by culture and love to have a soul of life. I also believe that the unique value of life can only be portrayed through the creation of the artist’s eyes, hands, and heart. Life is a completion! It is very real, maybe not perfect, but the beauty of it is through the process of continuous transcendence, improvement, and self-healing — this is the touching part of life that I think technology could never replace. In our generation, it could be difficult to avoid the temptation of using those tools, and it is easy to get lost in technology. I still believe that at the end of the day, people will come back to the most genuine process of creating, enabling them to bring something truly impactful and meaningful to the world.

Let’s talk about the future. Do you have any exhibition or collaboration you would like to share with our readers?

I will return to my college’s opera house to work as a wig & makeup designer and continue to collaborate with many wonderful artists I’ve worked with in the past. I also have an exhibition in mind that would possibly happen when I return home to Taiwan as a conclusion for my past few years. I’ve been traveling to many places before settling down— different cities in Taiwan, China, Japan, France, England, Mexico, and America. It’s very fortunate to travel at such a young age to broaden one’s views towards everything and make you seek for more. As my parents always said, “You have to carry home with you wherever you go and bring the world back home.” When I finally moved to New York, I went straight to Kansas City the next day for work. After that, I traveled to many places before I went on a national tour. It’s good to finally be back and settle down. My next step is to gather those memories into photography, words, paintings, and things that I collected along the journey.

And lastly, where do you see yourself and your art five years from now?

I hope my art can be more extensive and profound. Looking back over the past five years, both my vision and heart have become wider and freer. I believe art has endless possibilities — you can carry art in any way in every moment and enrich it with any given experience. I’ve always trusted the process. No matter where life is taking me, I’d listen to it and flow with it; I would not have imagined myself to be where I am today years ago, but here I am. Five years from now, I wish to still carry the same heart and courage to conquer challenges in life, to bring greater art and intention to this world.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.