Style v.s. Voice

“Style is looking for being someone else.
Voice is your opinions.

Don’t chase styles. Have a voice instead.

Art is a process of becoming yourself.”

— Nicolas Wilton

These are the words I noted down from an interview with Nicolas Wilton in my online course.

It reminds me of myself at earlier stages in life. I was thinking a lot about this seemly big thing.

WHAT’S MY STYLE?

Also,

I was chatting to an email subscriber who is also an artist.

He basically wrote me a poem about time machine traveling from 20 years ago in the email.

He inspired me to connect with those past MEs in.

A lot more dots are connected.

Let’s get on the time machine and travel back together x

Born and named 怡靜, meaning pleasant and quiet.
These are my grandparents.
I’m 1/4 Atayal, 3/4 Han Chinese

These are my parents.
(None of us look too similar to these pictures now.)
My dad used to be good at calligraphy but he doesn’t write any now.
He served most of his life in the army.
My mom was a tough business woman sourcing electronic components.
Mom is pretty much good at everything, but she’s painting more now.
They both gave me a lot of FREEDOM to explore & be myself.
You might see them at exhibition on 06.11

Mom’s paintings. She started one or two years ago. She’s so talented
I think something we have in common is colors and love for nature.

I have a younger brother who has a completely different brain than me. He is currently studying his master’s in chemistry in Edinburgh.

When grandma started sending me to dance classes at age of 7, I think she was cultivating me to be an artist already.

I wasn’t too much of a good dancer but I enjoyed the beauty of it.

I did have the dream of being a gymnast or ballerina until I really entered the educational system in Taiwan.

I was a good student, very good one.

I used to think music was a distraction from my real work, study.
I isolated myself to study in quietness.
Wish I had explored music more in my early life.
Not having much knowledge for music has always been one of my biggest weaknesses.

I was the weirdo who refused to go see my dad working in South Africa
because I wanted to go to cram school every day and kept studying, in a summer vacation.

I didn’t have many friends because I was too focused on study.

Fast forward high school because I was busy with study. I barely did any art.

I don’t remember the years in high school much because they were the worst years in my life.

My Mom kept this work for me from those years. I seem to be into making delicate art early on.

After high school, Mom encouraged me to do an exchange program for a year in the US.

I was staying with a wonderful Mormon family.

It was my first culture shock experience.

My host mom owned a dance studio and she still does.

At an American public high school, I had a chance to learn basic art techniques.

After finding art, finally without the pressure of college entrance exam, I skipped all the other classes to paint in art classroom all day.

That was the first time I was feeling so rebellious and free!

You can see more paintings I did in the states HERE.

In the Uni,

I majored in both German and advertising.
It’s a weird combination I know,
but I didn’t know what I wanted to do.

I was busy trying to be someone else and rebelliously partying.

I didn’t know what the future holds or what I wanted in life.

I sought after art in those sleepless nights, only once.

If I can tell younger me something, it would be ‘Drink less and create more in those sleepless nights.’

The only thing clear was I have always been fascinated by beauty.

Falling for the creative energy in glamours fashion world,

I did master’s in Fashion Enterprise in Leeds Uni.

I had more fun drawing for assignments than learning how to set up a business.

I did attempt the dream of a being a fashionista though.

Come look and have a laugh HERE

Worked at a fashion E-commerce start up in London

I thought since I can’t be a designer, a fashion buyer at least would still have something to do with ‘aesthetics’

Only to find out there’s more pollution and fakeness than real beauty

West London fashion employee on weekdays

Late night east London stroller on weekends

Seeing fashion shows was cool.

But I also remember walking on the street in east London with a friend.
I saw those hipster galleries and art studios throwing parties.
I asked my British friend what’s happening inside?
He said ‘Artists often have exhibitions or parties. It’s cool. You should check it out.’
I was thinking to myself, ‘How do I get an invite?’ I didn’t think I was cool enough to go inside.

My time in London was when I really explored music, mainly techno and jazz, quite two extreme genres I know!
Now, I only listen to music when I paint, no podcast or TV.
I still listen to techno a lot when painting landscapes and classic soft rock when painting botanicals.