Lifestyle Design and Culture Change: #bossbabesatx x Aceable (Session 2)
On August 31 at REVELRY's new space, we hosted the second event in our three-part summer installation of SHE TALKS with Aceable. There will be one more session in this series; stay tuned!
Produced by #bossbabesATX, SHE TALKS is an ongoing discussion-based personal and professional development series, tackling topics from finances to intersectional feminism.
On August 31 at REVELRY's new space, we hosted the second event in our three-part summer installation of SHE TALKS with Aceable. There will be one more session in this series; stay tuned!
The Vibe
Hosted at REVELRY (formerly Byron & Blue), this second session featured four panelists, chatting both the reasoning and strategy behind their side hustles and bootstrapped career paths. Statistically speaking, more and more women are diversifying their incomes and exploring entrepreneurship outside of their nine-to-fives. It's a global and national phenomenon—and we want to know why.
*Prior to the panel, we were joined by Nyla Spooner of Thoughts Caught in My Fro to speak on Hurricane Harvey relief efforts and her work with the Counter Balance Disaster Restoration project. At the panel, we collected donated items for families and communities displaced by Hurricane Harvey. To learn more about how you can get involved, head here.
Nyla Spooner of Thoughts Caught in My Fro, providing information on Hurricane Harvey relief efforts and needs
The Panel
Featuring four multi-hyphenate professionals, in conversation with #bossbabesATX founder, Jane Hervey
Didn't get to attend? Want the recap? Watch the livestream of the conversation and view photos from the event here. Learn more about the panelists below and get their full bios here.
Qi Dada Ras of Divine & Conjure, LLC., RAS Day and Riders Against the Storm
Sydney Hardwick of Cooking With Sydney
TK Tunchez of Frida Fridays and Las Ofrendas
Ashley Jennings of Divinc ATX
Following the conversation, we closed the event with an exercise in creating personal user manuals to help all of us better determine the work cultures and environments we create and participate in. You can download a copy of this activity here.
This series' partner: Aceable
Aceable is a mobile-first platform for certification and training courses, ranging from drivers ed to real estate continuing education. At Aceable, they believe that everyone should have access to education. They believe that certification and value-added training should be cost-effective, yet also high quality. They believe that learning should be a joy. They believe that by delivering innovative, outcome-focused courses we can empower people to thrive in life and succeed at what they do. They are a team of teachers, designers, writers, engineers, customer experience heroes and those passionate about education who love what we do. They are the new standard for learning. They are certification courses for the 21st century. Together, we are driving education forward. You can learn more about Aceable at aceable.com and aceableagent.com.
Learn more about why dot orgs and dot coms should collaborate and specifically the message behind our partnership with Aceable here.
The last event in this SHE TALKS series will be released soon; stay tuned! In the meantime, you can keep up with our upcoming productions here.
How to Help Southeast Texas: The Aftermath of Hurricane Harvey
We’re heartbroken by the devastation happening in southeast Texas and heartbroken for the people in our community who hail from Houston and the surrounding areas.
We know you are too, and, like you, we want to help.
We’re heartbroken by the devastation happening in southeast Texas and heartbroken for the people in our community who hail from Houston and the surrounding areas.
We know you are too, and, like you, we want to help.
So many different organizations throughout Austin are working to provide relief to those affected. Below, we've listed just a few of the ways you can support affected communities as they begin the recovery process.
1.) Donate to local food banks.
As the number of evacuees climbs, area food bank resources will be stressed. Consider donating money to the Houston Food Bank, the Food Bank of Corpus Christi, and/or the Galveston County Food Bank. If you have canned goods, ready to go, drop them by the Central Texas Food Bank or to any number of drives happening around the city.
*Below, you'll find correspondence directly from our contacts at the Central Texas Food Bank on what they need and could use from the community:
We’re currently encouraging both food and monetary donations that will go towards emergency boxes for those who were impacted by Harvey. Feel free to share these links or the following list with any fellow #bossbabesATX to let them know how they can continue to help out right now!
Food Items:
- Creamy Peanut Butter
- Squeeze Grape and Strawberry Jelly
- Black Beans
- Rice
- Chunk Light Tuna in water
- Beef stew – can pop top
Non-Food Items:
- Mouth Wash
- Large or Small Deodorant
- Soap (either bar or liquid)
- Shampoo
- Paper towels
- Paper plates
- Plastic cutlery
- Wet wipe/baby wipe pack
- Ziploc bags
2.) Volunteer.
Several grassroots groups are helping to mobilize and organize volunteers to help distribute donations and to assess the needs of evacuees sheltered in Austin. If you're able to contribute your time, contact the organizers (a conglomerate of local nonprofit representatives) at harveyaid2017@gmail.com or 209-787-0473, or use the volunteer signup form here.
3.) Contribute to a donation drive.
Organizations throughout Austin are collecting badly needed items to take to Houston and the surrounding areas:
— SprATX is accepting donations at their shop of several necessities including socks, toiletries, baby items, pet supplies and ready-to-eat foods. Those that donate will also receive 15% off all SpATX goods, allowing them to support Harvey evacuees and local artists. You can check out the full donation list here.
— An Austin relief team will be making the drive from Austin to Houston to ferry badly needed donations and supplies for both survivors and rescue volunteers. Check out the full list here or contact the volunteers to join their trip.
— In addition to accepting donations at multiple locations throughout Austin, Counter Balance ATX is also seeking monetary donations and volunteers to help identify and research places acting as evacuee shelters. You can also purchase items from the organization’s Amazon wish list, which will be updated as evacuee needs evolve in the coming weeks.
— Mayor Adler has asked Austin residents to compile small hygeine kits for the 6,000 displaced folks from Hurricane Harvey taking shelter in our city. Learn more about the project and how can contribute with Jane from @atasteofkoko.
— Our friends at Texas Humor and Sauceda Industries are harboring relief efforts at their warehouses. The following statement is from their team:
1) If you're wanting to send items to the affected cities, but aren't sure how to get it there or who to send it to please ship to our warehouse. We are helping with temporary supplies storage and will get them to exactly where they're needed via our various shipping partners that are active in the area. You can ship, drop off, or order via Amazon and have delivered below.
Sauceda Ind.
HARVEY RELIEF
506 E St Elmo RD
BLDG B
Austin, TX 78745
We're working directly with people on the ground in cities up and down the Gulf Coast to make sure cities that need certain things get enough and don't get overwhelmed with supplies they don't currently need.
2) Before you drive down to any particular town with supplies, do your best to reach out to any contacts in the areas and find out what the specific needs are. They're changing daily.
Water is the first thing that comes to mind for most folks, but things like tarps, cleaning supplies, and tanks of gas are also needed. Hot meals/brown bag lunches seem to be a welcomed donation regardless.
Either way, open your hearts and wallets. Just do your best to talk to folks directly and find out the specific needs before sending. Let's make sure everyone's getting whatever it'll take to get them back to 100% as soon as possible.
3) If you have any questions about where certain supplies are needed, let me know. Email me directly at
jayb@saucedaindustries.com
or call me at
832.640.9194
— We will also be accepting donations at the She Talks event happening tonight (update: this event has already occurred), thanks to Nyla Spooner of Thoughts Caught in My Fro. If you’re headed our way this evening to talk lifestyle design and work/life balance, and you feel so moved, please check out the list of needed items.
4.) Attend events benefitting the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.
For example, this Friday, you can blow some steam and help Hurricane Harvey relief efforts at Houston Strong at Mohawk Austin. All proceeds of the benefit, featuring Black Joe Lewis, The Octopus Project, Walker Lukens, and more, go to the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund established by Houston mayor Sylvester Turner in response to the natural disaster. Diapers, formula, socks, undergarments, bottled water, and nonperishable food will also be accepted onsite at the show happening tomorrow evening. Tickets are $20.
You can find more events in the Austin area on Facebook here.
5.) We also suggest perusing this community-curated and -compiled list of businesses donating to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.
Make every dollar you spend this week count!
6.) And last, but certainly not least, if you choose to volunteer and get involved, please be respectful and mindful in the wake of this tragedy.
On-the-ground responders and organizers are operating off of very little sleep, while sifting through large amounts of information, requests and inquiries—rest assured they are doing their best to coordinate efforts to all coastal cities affected by the Hurricane Harvey. When volunteering, support as you can and recognize when your efforts may be better spent elsewhere. When donating items, ensure you are donating what's needed, as sorting through items is a time-costly task for volunteers. Your help is appreciated—both big and small—so do what you can and show up for the people and the community you love.
- team #bossbabesATX
We Asked: How Do You Care For Yourself?
We asked: how do you practice self-care? You answered.
How do you care for yourself, love yourself, treat yourself like you hung the moon, treat yourself like you deserve the world, show yourself respect, celebrate yourself, recognize yourself, have compassion for yourself, forgive yourself?
At our June meet, we asked how you practice self-care. These are some of your answers.
On Black Art, Being Self-Taught and Embracing Inconsistency: "Meet Her Hands" with Multimedia Arist Neta Bomani
Bomani's pieces will be on display at the Elisabet Ney Museum through Sept. 6.
This summer, we produced our second Meet Her Hands production with the Elisabet Ney museum. This series features three self-identifying women, Texas-based artists in discussion about their work, their inspiration and their hands (hence their process).
The Vibe
Elisabet Ney Museum
On August 10, we gathered on the banks of the Elisabet Ney Museum, the former home of sculptor, Elisabet Ney, for an interview between Candace Roane and the third artist in Meet Her Hands 2017, Neta Bomani. As the sun set, attendees enjoyed an intimate exhibition of the artist's work, a Q&A with the artist herself and cider provided by Argus Cidery.
The Interview
Attendees gathered for a Q&A between Neta Bomani and Bomani's friend, collaborator Candace Roane. Below are a few highlight quotes from the conversation:
On not monetizing her work:
I've been thinking about doing art that's more anti-capitalist and more pan-African... I don't make art for profit... I don't believe for making art for money. I make art for myself and other black people
On being a self-taught multimedia artist:
Photography taught me to balance creativity with technical skills. I try to approach my artwork with prior knowledge.
I've been experimenting recently with collage work, which is something from childhood and is very youthful and also influences my experience with zine-making.
I just exist with this natural aptitude and inclination to do things with my hands. If there was someone who influenced me, it would be my father, who is an artist as well, though he probably wouldn't call himself one.
I consider myself to be self-taught. I was making art before any formal training. I did go to university for design, which provided a language for what I was doing...just to be honest I was doing my best work when I was outside of school because there were no outside forces. Even when I was making a lot of mistakes and errors, those still influenced the stylings of my art today.
On her process:
I do a lot of note-taking—that's something I never stop doing. I'll write down thoughts and ideas, and when I find myself in that momentum, that's when I'll start to create. I also spend a lot of time with family: I'm very private and family centered, and that's something that drives me as well.
My process varies. I am a very inconsistent artist... but art is a very self-reflective process. I try not to give into pressure and just make art when it moves me. I'll have a conversation with someone and realize I want to explore that idea, so I'll write it down and consult my notebooks when I feel the itch to create. That's where I live—I live in my notebooks."
On her inspirations:
I saw a quote on Twitter, and it addressed within the tension of society, what does it mean to be a problem? And that really resonated with me... I try to address that with my art. I try to address those unanswered questions and I hope that other people find that, too.
I definitely make sense of the world through my art. I process the world through my art... we live in a white supremacist, male-dominated society, and I'm a Black woman.
On overcoming doubts:
I was doubting myself two hours ago. Everyone doubts themselves. Even when I'm making art, I will doubt myself, but I have to just get through it and come out on the other side.
The Exhibition
featuring select works by Neta Bomani
Bomani's pieces will be on display at the Elisabet Ney Museum through Sept. 6, thus concluding our 2017 Meet Her Hands season! Til next summer, y'all.
HerStory: Elisabet Ney, Sculptor
One of Austin’s most great, prolific sculptors — an artist who created figures of great, prolific men — wore pants. This was back in the late 19th century, making it a big thing that the artist, Elisabet Ney, was a woman.
Elisabet Ney, one of Austin's most prolific artists.
One of Austin’s most great, prolific sculptors — an artist who created figures of great, prolific men — wore pants. This was back in the late 19th century, making it a big thing that the artist, Elisabet Ney, was a woman.
It was such a big thing, in fact, to be both a woman and an artist, that Ney undertook a hunger strike to lobby her parents for permission to become a sculptor. When she eventually enrolled in Munich Academy of Art, she was the institute’s first female student.
Not content to just be a sculptor, Ney excelled, winning commissions of Very Important Men of the era, including Richard Wagner, Jacob Grimm (of the Brothers Grimm), Otto von Bismarck, and King George V of Hanover.
Formosa became a cultural epicenter in Texas with creatives and thinkers often gathering to meet and mingle.
At some point, in the midst of all that success, Ney reluctantly married physician and philosopher Edmund Montgomery — reluctantly because she viewed marriage as a state of oppression for women. She kept her maiden name — this was in 1863.
In 1892, after a 20 year hiatus from sculpting, Elisabet Ney and her husband made Austin, Texas their home with the purchase of a plot of land that was then on the outskirts of town (it's now in Hyde Park). It was there that she established her studio — dubbed Formosa — and there that she created the model figures of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin with a $32,000 funding assist from the Texas legislature. That's more than $800,000 dollars today.
Formosa also became a gathering place for the creatives of Austin to meet, mingle, and discuss issues of the day. Ney became a momentous force in the creation of a Texas art scene — and she wore pants while doing it.
Years after her death, in 1911, her friends established the Texas Fine Arts Association, or what is now known as the Contemporary Austin, to honor her memory.
Ney’s influence lives on in a thriving Texas arts scene that we are proud to be a part of. This Thursday, August 10, in the tradition of the sculptor, we'll host a discussion with artist Neta Bomani as part of our Meet Her Hands series. We hope you'll join us.
On Festivals, Feminism and Community Productions: A BABES FEST '17 Recap
With 52 acts in three days, this festival was stacked with an unmatched array of talent in comedy music and film. Thanks to you, #wedidthat.
Photo by Sara Marjorie Strick for BABES FEST '17 on July 29 at Empire Control Room & Garage
cheers to BABES FEST '17.
With 52 acts in three days, this festival was stacked with an unmatched array of talent in comedy music and film. Thanks to you, #wedidthat. Click here to get a feel for BABES FEST's herstory and why we produce this annual festival on Texas Monthly.
On Traditional Art Careers and Making Useful, Spiritual Things: "Meet Her Hands" with Ceramicist and Sculptor Angel Oloshove
Angel's pieces will be on display at the Elisabet Ney Museum through August 8. The next and last artist in this series is illustrator and designer Neta Bomani (August 10).
This summer, we're producing our second Meet Her Hands production with the Elisabet Ney museum. This series features three self-identifying women, Texas-based artists in discussion about their work, their inspiration and their hands (hence their process).
Photos by Tess Cagle. View more photos on the #bossbabesATX Facebook.
The Vibe
Elisabet Ney Museum
On July 20, we gathered on the banks of the Elisabet Ney Museum, the former home of sculptor, Elisabet Ney, to interview the second artist in Meet Her Hands 2017, Angel Oloshove. As the sun set, attendees enjoyed an intimate exhibition of the artist's work, a Q&A with the artist herself and cider provided by Argus Cidery.
The Interview
A Q&A between Angel Oloshove and Women & Their Work Gallery Program Director Madeline Taylor
Angel studied Painting and Drawing at California College of the Arts. She then worked as a toy designer in Tokyo, Japan and began working in ceramics in 2007 in Baltimore, Maryland. She continued as a studio technician at the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston until 2014. She currently lives and works in Houston, Texas.
A few highlights:
On making accessible, functional art for other people:
Doing functional pottery is a way of staying engaged with the material... I want to be able to have work that's more accessible to people to whom it speaks to.
I want to have my fine art work be catalysts for the person who's looking at it: a transcendent, intimate personal feeling... while I want my pottery to be something that someone can interact with every day.
When I make the work and it's done, I don't even feel like it's mine. I just feel like the hands that made it
On her inspirations:
I'll fill up a sketchbook with contoured forms, while I'll be looking at the world for textures that are very luxurious and visually sumptuous and delicious. And slowly they'll come together.
On the color purple:
I just have a lot of specific memories of being at the farm [in Michigan, where we grew up] and picking tomatoes in the dirt and her feet in the dirt. And I remember that her toenail had this mauve nail polish. And that's the color I associate with her, my mother.
On her synesthesia:
Certain color combinations or textures will make my mouth water or my eyes tingly.
On facing criticism/skepticism at her medium:
I'm just gonna show up and do my work.
The Exhibition
featuring select sculptures by Angel Oloshove
Angel's pieces will be on display at the Elisabet Ney Museum through August 8. The next and last artist in this series is illustrator and designer Neta Bomani (August 10). You can catch the recap of the first artist in this series, Roshi K., here.
On Multimedia Approaches to Art and Representation: "Meet Her Hands" with Roshi K
Roshi's pieces will be on display at the Elisabet Ney Museum through July 18. The next two artists in this series are ceramicist and sculptor Angel Oloshove (July 20) and illustrator and designer Neta Bomani (August 10).
This summer, we're producing our second Meet Her Hands production with the Elisabet Ney museum. This series features three self-identifying women, Texas-based artists in discussion about their work, their inspiration and their hands (hence their process).
The Vibe
Elisabet Ney Museum
On July 6, gathered on the banks of the Elisabet Ney Museum, the former home of sculptor, Elisabet Ney, to interview the first artist in Meet Her Hands 2017, Roshi K. As the sun set, attendees enjoyed an intimate exhibition of the artist's work, a Q&A with the artist herself and cider provided by Argus Cidery.
The Interview
A Q&A between Roshi K. and Noel Hollis
Roshi lives and works in Austin, Texas. The vibrations and culture of every city, old and new, impact the flavor of Roshi’s work. She enriched her natural talents by studying Art Foundations at Virginia Commonwealth University and Animation at the Arts Institute of Austin. The main influences on Roshi’s aesthetic include anime, manga, Japanese history, the history of the African Diaspora, mythology, linguistics, cymatics, quantum physics and the natural elements. Noel Hollis, Roshi's close friend and fellow activist, interviewed Roshi to explore her process and practice. A few highlights:
On the way her identity influences both her style and subjects:
"You've got your average all American girl next door, but I'm your brown girl next door."
On being an activist and painting the mundane:
"Art and activism go hand in hand, but we also need to have the narrative that we've led the normal lives, too. I feel like it's my duty with murals to put brown people up on a wall so that people can walk by and see representation from within their own communities. It's not just important to put a brown girl on a wall, but it's also important to show young girls that they can pursue a creative career, too."
On her inspirations:
"One of my biggest inspirations besides visual art is music...but another one of my favorite things is nature. I like to go to the woods and reconnect with water."
On street art and being a muralist:
"Walls scream out to me all the time... but if I responded to every wall I'd be in trouble."
The Exhibition
featuring select watercolor and multimedia works by Roshi K.
Roshi's pieces will be on display at the Elisabet Ney Museum through July 18. The next two artists in this series are ceramicist and sculptor Angel Oloshove (July 20) and illustrator and designer Neta Bomani (August 10).
#bossbabesATX: A Mini HerStory
Over the last two years, our mission, team and community have grown. To demonstrate what the last two years have meant to us, we created a lil video to show you who we are and where we're headed.
Over the last two years, our mission, team and community have grown. To demonstrate what the last two years have meant to us, we created a lil video to show you who we are and where we're headed.
Watch below:
Directed and produced by Illyana Bocanegra
Meet June's URL Resident Artist: Vy Ngo
Vy Ngo's creative life — or rather, her life more generally — is defined by dualities.
A pediatrician by day, the self-taught, first generation American born Vietnamese artist enters creative zen mode at night, allowing emotional instinct to guide her through painting.
“Having two different passions in life makes me feel whole, because I feel like I’m studying the human experience on all levels. ”
Vy Ngo's creative life — or rather, her life more generally — is defined by dualities.
A pediatrician by day, the self-taught, first generation American born Vietnamese artist enters creative zen mode at night, allowing emotional instinct to guide her through painting.
Further, her work is bisected by two modalities — a series of expressive, colorful and cultural portraits, each one individual in itself, and a breadth of abstract pieces that connect with the viewer on a gut level.
More than just an outlet for expressing the creative side of her identity, Ngo's artwork is the flipside to her pediatric work — a way of studying human culture, identity and experience where medicine allows her to study human physicality and health. And while medicine is her "quote unquote day job," her two passions and two careers intersect — each one bringing a needed perspective to the other in a way that makes her feel whole.
Below, she discusses how her work both painting and helping people interact to give her two different ways to connect with human rawness and vulnerability.
You can currently view her work at the People's Gallery 2017 exhibit at Austin City Hall; Strangers from Home at the Asian American Resource Center through June 24; and at Kiki Nass Boutique through August 10.
Lost in Thought, Currently at the Asian American Resource Center
How do you know you're an artist (besides the obvious)?
Becoming an artist is more about how you get there and how that defines you from that point on. For me, it wasn't like I knew I wanted to become an artist early on in life. But I was always creative — I drew a lot, obsessively and was very active in art class because it was a way for me to balance out my academics. It was like my escape and the place I felt most like myself. When it got to the point where I was trying to decide what career I wanted to pursue, it was between design, architecture and medicine. Of course, practicality wise, medicine seemed like the better choice. I also enjoyed working with kids since I was young, so being a pediatrician was just a natural choice for me at the time. I dedicated myself onto that path, which is a very, very long arduous course within itself. Which as a result, put my creative side on the breaks for over 20 years. Once I was established in my professional career and had a family, I started to realize that there was a part of me that was missing and that side of me was wanting to come out. It felt like if I continued to suffocate the creative side of me any further, I wasn’t sure how I would be emotionally — I felt like there was this big hole. It just came to a head for me. Of course, as soon as I tapped into that place, it was like I was an artist my entire life and I'd just been absorbing my life’s inspirations, observations and interactions. Once I started, I couldn’t stop and it's become a defining part of my life. It's more that I found myself again as an artist and now I'm on this journey of defining myself even further through my work.
Photo courtesy of Elkk Social
It sounds like it really functions for you as an outlet, as well as a part of your identity.
It is an outlet, but it's not just that. I'm starting to see the interactions between all the different parts of my life. When working with people and taking care of them in their most vulnerable time of need or the most precious parts of their lives, there is a rawness to it and a humanity that I'm able to express in my creative work. Then my creative work feeds into my medical profession as well by helping me get in touch with my own vulnerability allowing me to connect with people in a deeper way. So I feel like it's not necessarily just an outlet. It was maybe initially, but now it's become a part of how I process all the different aspects of my life, with my kids, with my career, with my art. It's interchangeable at this point.
Yellow, 2016
Do you see expressing that rawness and humanity in your portraits as a way of connection with the human experience?
Human interaction and people and culture have always fascinated me. I'm a first-generation American born Vietnamese artist. Growing up in a small rural town where you were kind of like the outsider and looked different from everyone around you, you're thrust into that. You can't ignore it and you can't help but be intrigued by what makes everyone different — what life paths people choose, what makes them who they are. With me being in the healthcare industry, human interaction is such a crucial part in understanding people. I've always been intrigued by people, their faces and the stories that they tell and I think that's why portraits for me is such a real place of connection. To be able to portray the emotions of a person and their life experience through creation of art is the most intimate form of connection as well as expression.
Blue, People's Gallery 2017
Though your portraits are all by you, and all have the same style generally, they also all have their own unique bent to them. Does each person's distinct story require a different way of expressing it?
Of course. I love that you can tell the portraits and work are all mine yet still distinctive. I want to put my creative stamp on each piece while still giving each portrait their own individual story. The colors, the emotions, the composition— it's all very personal to that person, that face or that culture.
Nebulus, 2016
Are these people that you know? Where are you sourcing the subjects of your portraits from?
Some of my portraits are of people that I know and some of them are strangers. For example, my recent series Strangers from Home is based on Vietnam and the cultural identification I have with the people there, as well as my disconnection with them being a first-generation American citizen. I consider my work “cultural portraits” because I am trying to express them as reflections of different cultural identities, histories, and experiences. I want to understand their story as well as express my own personal views of the world through their eyes.
Hearing that, I understand more why you call yourself a creative anthropologist. With your work, you seem to be tapping into the culture of people's stories and how that informs the identity you present of them.
Yeah, absolutely. In my “day job”, I had to learn and study the human body, genetics, human physiology and how they relate to disease or health and their environment and their diet — all those things that are very scientific. But as an artist, I'm taking all those studies one step further and studying the human psyche and our relationships with each other, our history, and our upbringing. I see our identities within our cultures and within our society. Having two different passions in life makes me feel whole because I feel like I'm studying the human experience on all levels.
Queen, People's Gallery 2017
In addition to these portraits, you also have abstract work, which again, you can tell is in your style, but is different from your portraiture. How does it tie in to the portraiture? What's the connection?
When I was younger, I drew portraits a lot. The human face was always something that was natural for me to work with. Abstract work is something I've always admired because you can get lost in it and because it becomes such an internal conversation. With abstract work, I'm engulfing myself in my own internal journey and I have let go. With portrait work, there's some control because you know where you want to go and what you want the portrait to look like. With abstract pieces, you have no idea where it's going to end up. You have a general idea of what you want to convey, the emotionality, the palette and the movement, but the part of abstract painting that I'm drawn to is the process itself. Finding myself along the way, bringing up more questions within myself and ultimately making decisions that aren't necessarily guided. It's truly trusting the process and the journey. It's amazing because with portraits, people can connect with them because you're looking at someone face to face — it's like a human conversation. With my "abstract memories”, for the viewer or artist, it's a dialogue of spirituality, psychology or emotionality that's not tangible. It's very personal because it triggers something inside of them. It may not necessarily be my intention with the painting, but that's what they're feeling. So to me abstract work is an even deeper human connection and it's nice to have that balance. You know, with me having two different passions and two different careers, it just makes sense — I live in this duality all the time.
This interview has been edited for clarity. Follow Vy Ngo's work on Instagram @vjngo_art or see more at vyngostudio.com.