Meet Yien Truong | Concrete Artist

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

Hi Yien, why did you pursue a creative career?
I pursuit a creative path to achieve a work life balance. Working on my concrete decor gives me that Zen that I have been looking for. When I create, I don’t think about life stressors.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I love creating colours and unique designs for each of my concrete creations. Creating colors, vibrant designs was definitely my challenge when I started. We all know concrete comes pretty gray in colour in creating the vibrant colours has its trials and errors. Some of my process of understanding concrete took me down the path of creating my own concrete formula with Portland cement, sand, testing various brands of ready-made concrete and pigments. I had often told my friends that I was lucky to have YouTube university to learn from.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My friends and I have the same interest mostly with food. So we would definitely start our week with brunch and dinner outings to some the new and old restaurants. Our schedule would revolve around getting us to a market to support local vendors. It’s a leisure stroll that will involve making friends with local makers, sampling local food, and supporting our makers community.

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?
I started my concrete journey at the start of the Covid pandemic. I started from the very basics with making concrete and testing the mixtures with Tupperware and takeout containers. Starting from the bottom up, help me work with the foundations of concrete. This is super important . I’m aware that it was not the most aesthetically pleasing work, but my friends and family was so encouraging even though I can tell that it was not my best work and it was developing. Going to markets to sell directly to customers was also a challenge, especially when you have to carry heavy concrete and set up tents. It was not possible to do this by myself. I had an amazing rotation of family and friends that would volunteer and attend the shows and attend the markets with me.

Website: www.sunsetcement.com

Instagram: @sunsetcement

Facebook: Www.faceboo.com/sunsetcement