Magazine-Winter-2025 - Flipbook - Page 32
By Doris Sung, associate professor of art history
From Hong Kong to Tuscaloosa
In the early 1990s, students from Hong Kong who
wished to pursue higher education in the United
States would typically do so in metropolitan
centers such as New York, San Francisco and
Los Angeles. Tuscaloosa would not be a common
first choice for Hong Kong students who were
accustomed to living in a city of more than 7
million people. However, Sau-mui Yung ’95 had
a different idea. After graduating from the Hong
Kong Polytechnic University with a diploma in
printmaking, Yung decided to stay away from the
big cities so that she could immerse herself in
artmaking and the American life. In 1992, she came
to Tuscaloosa and enrolled in the Bachelor of Fine
Arts (BFA) program at The University of Alabama.
“I found the freedom
to be fully in touch
with my creativity.”
Sau-mui Yung being interviewed about the exhibition
“Through Time – Print Art in Aberdeen Street” curated by Yung.
Image courtesy: Sau-mui Yung.
After starting her study at the department of
art and art history, she realized she had chosen
the right place.
“I found the freedom to be fully in touch with my
creativity. Printmaking professor Chris Kakas gave
us the liberty to explore possibilities in our works,”
Yung said.
After initially focusing on silk screening, Yung was
eager to explore other printmaking processes and
took up lithography. The medium captivated her, not
only because of lithography’s endless possibilities,
30
ALABAMA ALUMNI MAGAZINE
–Sau-mui Yung
but because it is a difficult technique to perfect.
“I wanted to push my own limits. A friend told me
that lithography was the most difficult practice
among all printmaking techniques, so I decided to
challenge myself!”
Once she started, Yung found joy in the process,
which required discipline and understanding of
chemical reactions between the material components
and how they affect the outcome of the image.
Yung’s education at UA built the foundation for her
lifelong career in print art.
