We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Linzi Chen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Linzi below.

Linzi, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

My series work “Carousel” is one of the milestone projects for me in the past few years. My motivation came from my favorite fashion designer from the UK, Alexander Mcqueen. Personally, I spent over seven years studying and working in the fashion design industry before going to FIT to pursue a master’s degree in illustration. It’s a valuable experience for me and my creations. In this project, I went through all the shows Mr. Mcqueen directed from 2001 to 2010 and picked some of the most iconic and meaningful characters and styles to present in my work. I used the carousel as well as balloons as a physical setting to show the elapsed time and circulation of fashion. These characters are also the representatives of us at different stages. The development of fashion is also the growth as well as change of every single one in this world.

This is one of my most completed and mature series of works. I used fashion as a perspective and an element in this series to present my opinions of human beings and this world. I’m trying to find a balance between fashion and editorial illustration. The completion of this work helped me determine my goal of communicating my ideas to the audience through fashion in my future career.

Linzi, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi, my name is Linzi Chen and I’m a crossover artist, illustrator, and fashion designer originally from China and now based in New York. I majored in fashion design for my undergraduate and master’s degrees and currently pursuing a master of illustrations at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York.

I love fashion and observe people, objects, time, and space all the time. I’m good at decomposing and extracting key elements from my life moments. Then I like to reassemble them and create a new world that pulls the audience in and pushes them to reflect.

Realism is my main style, and I usually use watercolor and digital to create my fashion world.

My art and fashion work are more than just mere clothing. As I embark on my creative journey, I aspire to express the emotions and thoughts from my inner world through the exquisite lens of fashion and my creativity.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

While the compliments from the audience are pleasing, my own recognition is always able to bring me more joy. Before starting my creation, I usually spend plenty of time imagining the final scene of the work. The time I spend on paper or digital board is the process of consistently getting close to the ideal image. I really enjoy this process, especially when I keep getting closer. But the most rewarding moment is when I’m being creative and trying new ideas, and these ideas actually work and the effects are better than I imagined. I love this kind of moment and I believe this is the incentive for all the creators — keep pushing yourself to the limit and create something new and wonderful. In addition, I think being able to make a living by doing things you love is absolutely difficult but wonderful if you can do it.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I definitely want to become a successful crossover artist. Honestly speaking, to me, there is a huge difference between an illustrator and an artist, and I want to ultimately become a great artist, like Daniel Arshman and Yayoi Kusama. Their ideas and works are created and communicated in many different ways, like sculptures and installations. I don’t want to be limited to the paper and screen. Instead, I want to make my 2D ideas and pieces into 3D forms if possible in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.linzichen.art
• Instagram: linnzi_chen
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/linzi-chen

Image Credits
Linzi Chen