Meet Chia Ying Lin | Illustrator, Art healing practicer, creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chia Ying Lin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chia Ying, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
Hi! My name is Chia and I’m an illustrator from Taiwan, a semi-tropical island country with mountainous landscapes.

Like many other kids, I enjoyed drawing and making crafts in my childhood. I’ve been living near hills since I was born. Birds and frogs singing were my alarm clocks and lullaby. Also my dad loved mountain climbing, so our family trips were usually into forests in high altitude. As a result, I am very familiar with the sensations of mountains which make great impact to my creations.

I didn’t realise how important these memories are until I moved to a flat in the city when I started freelanced work, where was surrounded with other apartments and cramped spaces and cars. From that time, my creative methods and themes often include a lot of nature elements. Natures are teachers. They provide so much power, and we have so much to learn from them. The lessons will only stop when it comes to the end of our life.

Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
There was a mentor told me, “You got to spend three years to get to a mature career. Before that, it’s gonna be a tough journey.” That was my second year of my freelance life, and everything seemed difficult.

Before becoming a freelanced illustrator, I was working in a digital marketing company. It was fun to be able to collaborate with different clients in diverse industries with colleagues, but I knew that I want to be a illustrator and develop creativity by my own language. So, I left the job, said goodbye to my colleagues and regular office life.

It was not easy in the beginning of my freelance life, or you can say, my own business. Soon I realised I could not live with the savings from my previous job, so I had a part-time job in a cafe and at the same time tried to reach out to the illustration industry in Taiwan. I was introverted ( now still !) and didn’t know how to make connections successfully. Based on my experiences, it usually turned out awkward situations if I socialise with people actively which made me feel disappointed.

Then I changed my strategy. If it fails when I try to find someone, why not other people come to find me instead? There were some annual art book fairs in Taiwan which mainly focused on visual arts, self-publishing, and printing works. I made some zines, and registered for the fairs. I got rejected but I knew that it means my works could be better. Finally, I entered the creative fair, and then had the opportunity to connect with other artists and my potential clients. For that I think it’s because joining an art book fair means I am “qualified” at some point, so people are more willing to connect with me. ( Well that’s my personal opinion.) With the experiences of these creative fairs and my social media, I gradually received some collaboration from publishers, and once there is one client, the others would come to me. That’s how my freelance life changed and gradually went better. It was about the third year of my own business.

Workwise, I like to create narrative regarding psychology, philosophy, gender equality or spirituality. Like I mentioned before, I am mostly inspired by natures when it comes to visual outcomes because of my growing experience. Trees, stones, plants and lights are easily seen in my creation.

Recently, with my interest and research of psychology, I am developing art healing by creating visual arts and the connection of natures. It is something that I’m still figuring out and learning, and I hope in the future I can apply it to more expanded fields.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Mount. Ali is a good place for beginners who want to experience high mountain view but don’t want to be worn out . It has several trails from easy to hard, and also we can take a special train made in Japanese time that goes from altitude 30 to altitude 2400 in Chiayi.

Then we can go to south to Tainan, a city with antique temples and cultures preserved from Qing or Ming dynasty. Here, we can try so many different types of Taiwanese small dishes ,and at nights there are several atmospheric bars located in small alley and old houses.

If it is not enough, we can travel towards the most southern part of Taiwan, Hengchun, where is a lovely county surrounded with beaches and tropical environments, a good place for surfers, divers and any other ocean lovers.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give a shoutout to my friend from my postgraduate course, Kyoung Mi Ahn, who is a great illustrator and art book maker. I’m inspired and encouraged so much from her.

Also to my tutor in the illustration postgraduate course, Sinead Evans, who is an inspiring visual researcher and guide that provide me to deeper thoughts about illustrations.

Website: chiayinglin.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chiaisgood

Twitter: www.facebook.com/chiachiaarts