Why they do what they do

We asked some of the city’s leading artists and creatives to tell us about how they decided to pursue an artistic or creative career. We’ve shared some highlights below.

Pablo Ejarque-González | Furniture Designer

I grew up constantly making and remaking things. My parents often found me covered in dust, disassembling objects around the house and attempting to reassemble them in new ways. Although many items were destroyed in my plan to modify them, these early experiences triggered a passion for invention. Read more>>

Lu Lu | Sound designer/ RE-recording mixer/ production sound mixer

I decided to pursue an artistic career because I wanted to find personal fulfillment and recognition for my unique contributions. When I worked as a lawyer, I often felt my efforts were undervalued. My role involved drafting contracts, offering legal advice, and maintaining the company’s intellectual property. Read more>>

Nick Amirkhani | Cravy App Owner & Music Artist

I pursued a creative career because my father is an entrepreneur, who started his own tech recruiting company, and so is my older brother, who has made a career for himself in producing music in the hip-hop industry. Read more>>

Ryan Woo | Cinematographer/Photographer/Editor/Drone Pilot

Growing up, I was never sure on what I wanted to be, and I’m sure many other people can relate to that. In my early schooling days, I thought about becoming a scientist, maybe something with paleontology or marine biology; But that dream quickly faded when I realized my school grades would never reach the adequate level needed to become a scientist. Read more>>

Janet Clare | Writer

Writing was a second career, which I never thought as a career at all until a few stories, essays, and finally, my first novel was published. Early on, I was lucky to have been mentored by one of the best people and a brilliant editor who I continued to work with for many years. Read more>>

Rick Sherman | Music Composer, Audio Engineer, and Musical Entertainer

I pursued my careers as a music composer, audio engineer, and musical entertainer because I’ve always believed that I should feel passionate about my career pursuits, and starting at a very young age (4 years old), I’ve always been passionate about music, and I’ve been pleased about the creative processes needed for the work that I do. Read more>>

Didi Beck | Film Director & Artist

I couldn’t not! Art is the love of my life. I was born an artist and creating is a basic need for me. I have a wonderfully supportive family and my parents always encouraged my love, exploration and pursuit of creativity. My father is a musician and my mother is an artist herself. Read more>>

Kat Satava | Epic Fantasy & Supernatural Fiction Author / Owner-Operator of Maddening Moon Manuscripts

I didn’t at first. I was a young single mom. An artistic career did have the stability I felt I needed to provide for my family, at the time I was making decisions about careers and the future. I figured like every one of my idols, I would need to have a day job and write by flashlight after my kids were all asleep. Read more>>

Kyra Sims | Broadway Musician, Writer, and Co-Artistic Director of the New York Neo-Futurists

Honestly I don’t think I’d be cut out for anything else. I crave variety and authentic connections, and it’s difficult to obtain both of those things in a traditional work environment. Also mornings are hard for me and I’m convinced I would be fired from any job that expected me to be present and functional at 9am every day. Read more>>

Tate Lauby | Actor & Model

A creative career is a true foundation for myself as a person. The fondest memories in my life come from when the creative blood is pumping through my veins. There is something so extraordinary about the art of creating. Read more>>

Dominique Draper | Director/Writer

The arts and hustle have always been in my blood. Watching my father use his talents to elevate our family out of poverty was all the inspiration I ever needed. I just had to find my niche. Growing up surrounded by Hip-Hop and its vivid storytelling, I would close my eyes and watch the movie. Read more>>

Grace Ng | Screenwriter

I’ve always been very conscious of how words, stories, and media can shape how someone sees the world. In this sense, people who make art and media have a social responsibility to make sure the content they produce benefits others in some way – whether by creating awareness, inspiring perseverance, or simply spreading joy. Read more>>

Jane Wu | I am an interdisciplinary designer specializing in package and branding design, currently based in the United States with roots in Hong Kong. My design style is a fusion of Western and Asian cultures.

As a kid, I was easily bored and changed my mind very often. Over the years, I explored my interests and hobbies in many areas. Yet, the only thing that has always kept me interested was art. Read more>>

Lanyi Gao | Artist

I pursued an artistic career because it allows me to explore and express complex ideas and emotions that are often difficult to convey through other means. Art has been a powerful tool for me to reflect on personal experiences, cultural influences, and social issues. Read more>>

Astaar

I pursued an artistic career because it’s what is most true and authentic to who I am as a person. I am naturally creative and love to create all forms of art, especially music. I’ve went the logical and safe career route and was burned out, unfulfilled, and uninspired. Read more>>

Rika Nakayama | Experimental & Stop-motion Filmmaker

I have always had a passion for creativity. When I was young, I liked to write and draw my own stories, and I grew my interests in diverse subjects to feed my imagination. Writing and drawing stories also made me observe my surroundings and explore new places to find inspiration. Read more>>

Hyosun Hwang | Illustrator

Since I was young, I have always had a lot to express. I discovered that creating something to convey my thoughts and feelings is a unique and wonderful gift. Fortunately, creating is both the most enjoyable and confident way for me to communicate. Read more>>

Kate Chen | Actress, Producer, Writer

I started pursuing a creative career for the love of films. It started budding when I was a kid. I love going to the movie theaters with friends and family, and see how the story unfolds on the big screen. I love the immersive experience: how the picture, actors, cinematography, music, and special effects all come together. Read more>>

Sara Yigin | Actor

From a young age, I was always the child who twirled around the living room, imagining it was a grand stage. Ballet and the arts were my first loves, capturing my imagination and sparking a lifelong passion. Yet, growing up in a tennis-centric family, my path initially veered toward the world of rackets and courts. Read more>>

Sweet

I can’t remember a time in my life when I wasn’t telling stories. Growing up, my active imagination was fostered and feed with enough books to fill a semi-truck and playing make believe for hours on end in the summertime with my cousins. Becoming an author was as natural as breathing air to me. Read more>>

Dave ‘Champ’ Moore | Actor, Writer, Director, Published Author, Podcast Host

I believe a big reason of why we are here on earth is to help inspire and encourage those around us. For me, my best way of accomplishing this is storytelling and expressing myself freely through my craft. It’s a way to connect and relate to everyone hoping the overall message can resonate and speak to their heart and emotions. Read more>>

Jason Sheng | Sing-songwriter, Music Producer

Growing up in a non-musician Chinese household where entertainment careers were unheard of, I initially pursued Mechanical Engineering in college with dreams of joining the automotive industry. Read more>>

Tyler Browne | Tyler Browne/Singer ofThe LA Cult

I always had so many feelings and I needed a way to express them. I acted them out with imitation, danced when my body couldn’t hold them in or write them down as they poured out of me. Whichever way I did it, it was always accompanied by music, whether in my head or coming from somewhere more tangible like a record. Read more>>

Chris McGrath | Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Cover Illustrator

Like many artists and illustrators out there, I started drawing at a very young age, and just kept at it. It was around the age of 11 or 12 I got serious and decided that this was my future path. The catalyst for this was when I saw the art work of Frank Frazetta in an art book of his that my uncle had. Read more>>

Roni Ariza | Small Business Owner, Roniveesboutique & Drop Dead Fabrics

I started my brand in 2011. I started posting on Craigslist, Facebook and OfferUp trying my best to get orders. At the time I had an almost two year old with 2 jobs I couldn’t keep because I didn’t have a babysitter or a car. I had to think of a way to make some money for diapers, and clothes for my son.  Read more>>

Sovereign Syre | Screenwriter/Stand Up Comedian/Podcaster

It wasn’t really a choice. I started working (under the table) when I was 12 years old. I remember distinctly, wiping down a toilet at a cafe where I worked when I was sixteen, and thinking, there has to be more than this. I was always a strong writer, my mom still has poems I wrote for her when I was four. Read more>>

Guy Moshayov | Artist & Lecturer

As cliché as it may sound, I never considered the deep investment in a creative practice as a choice. In fact, as a college-level educator, I often think to myself that if one can give up a career in the arts and choose a more stable field, he/she should probably do so. Read more>>

Rik ‘Ricky’ Bontinck | Musician, Poet, Songwriter

It took me a really long time to figure out where to distribute my commitment in life. My ambitions and passion for things as a teenager had always been short lived and desultory. Apart from my average competence on a guitar, performing played a minimal role and poetry even less. Read more>>

Lamar Neal | Writer, storyteller, and poet

As cliché as it sounds, a creative career chose me. The unceasing and incessantly growing desire to tell a story has been a part of me since I was a kid. Everything I did, from playing basketball to playing with my toys, always started with an internal writing room, where I scripted the upcoming play session. Read more>>

Stanislav Osipov | Artist & Designer

One thing I know for certain is that I was put on this earth to create. As I age, the idea that communication is by far the most important thing to humans has crystalized in my mind. Humanity seems like a hive mind that has lost its collective memories and is in desperate need of a reunification. Read more>>

Diana Kuanysh | Film Director & an Artist

From a young age, I was always a creative and talented child, constantly engaging in artistic activities. My fascination with filmmaking began when I saw the editing process of a music video. I immediately fell in love with it and started creating my own music videos and short films with friends. By the age of nine, I knew I wanted to become a film director. Read more>>

Eddie Yukun Long | filmmaker, producer

I’m determined to pursue an artistic career because it lets me bring my imaginative vision to life. I’ve always been intrigued by the unpredictability of life—what could have happened and what might happen next—things we can’t always control, and the countless possibilities that can arise in a moment. Read more>>

Kaitlyn Robicheau-Hall | Fine Artist & Illustrator

Throughout my life I have explored many different areas of work and skills, but nothing creates joy as much as art does. Sometimes there are rough weeks where I go without creating anything and once I do I feel like I can breathe again. Like I hadn’t know I was holding my breath. Read more>>

Heraa Khan | Visual Artist

I chose an artistic career because it allows me to be myself in the most authentic way. It opens up a pathway for self-expression and personal exploration. My journey into Indo-Persian miniature painting has been a way to connect with my cultural heritage and roots. Read more>>

Geremy Dingle | Performer, Writer, & Producer

Fate was instrumental in leading me to the theater as a child. It was an escape from my elementary school environment where I was bullied and outcast to the point of contemplating suicide. On stage, I was accepted as a hyper-quirky kid who tended to express myself with vocal sound effects and a positive zeitgeist of characters. Read more>> 

Meicheng Chi | Designer & Illustrator

Painting allows me to record the soft and moist scenes in my subconscious. In dreams, I can fly over water and land in just a few minutes, with various thoughts overlapping with imaginations, slowly sinking into summer. Emotions and memories can melt onto paper, fly out of the window, enter the river with the moon, reaching infinity. Read more>>

Smahi Anand | Film Director

I pursued an artistic career in filmmaking because storytelling has always been a profound passion of mine. Film, as a medium, offers a unique way to explore and communicate complex emotions, experiences, and perspectives. I was drawn to the power of cinema to inspire, challenge, and connect people from diverse backgrounds. Read more>>

Seungjin Lee | Physital Fine Artist

From now on in the future in human society, and more digital technology we didn’t know before will come and have an effect and change the face of our lives, so I want to explain that multiple interface relation phenomenon through artworks in several ways. Read more>>

Shan Xu | New Media Artist

I pursued an artistic and creative career because of my profound fascination with the intricate relationship between technology and nature. Growing up, I was always intrigued by how these two seemingly opposing forces could coexist harmoniously. This curiosity led me to explore new-media art, which provides a perfect platform to delve into this interplay. Read more>>

Malo Ingledew | Musician, Rockstar

I chose this path because it’s the only way I am fully able to express myself. As we grow and age I feel that it’s important to maintain sensitivity despite any hardships or challenges that may present themselves in our human experience. Read more>>

Sy Phelan | Multidisciplinary Freelance Artist

One of the earliest memories that I have was made my first day of Nursery School. I was all of 3 years old, maybe, and after being dropped off by my Mother, I felt terribly overwhelmed and afraid. One of the teachers quickly guided me over to a little easel that was set up with large sheets of white paper and bulky brushes, each standing in glass jars of different coloured paints. Read more>>

Matthew Serrano | Filmmaker

For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a storyteller. At first, it was writing novels to become a writer. Then it was drawing to become an animator. One day, I decided after the millionth viewing of my Star Wars DVD to check out the other DVD that came in the box which was the bonus materials where I watched, countless hours of behind-the-scenes and making content, and was completely inspired. Read more>>

Kate Bouchard | Founder of Loba Wellness and Principal at Armature Collective

Since I was a child, my creativity has always been a large part of who I am. Music and art touch the depths of our souls, and truly exemplify the experience of being human. I am an avid reader, and use writing and poetry for reflection. Read more>>

Yadan Tan | Animator & Designer

This has been a profoundly meaningful and fun journey for me. I started out as a music student and had never touched fine arts before, let alone animation. In high school, I had a friend who majored in fine arts, I always spending time with her in her studio. Read more>>

Fenix Kaplan | Automotive photographer & student

I decided to pursue my photography business back in early 2022 when the pandemic had me locked in my room and locked away from my newfound passion. With automotive photography as my artistic outlet, being able to finally go to car meets and photograph the various cars and builds was a truly a breath of fresh air away from the masked world at the time. Read more>>