We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Naichen Pan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Naichen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

I was sitting in a sushi restaurant, crying without any intention of muffling it, while my bestie Liv was sitting on the other end of the dining table, watching, without any regret, as if she was watching a bad reality show. I had just told her I quit being an artist and started job hunting. While following her parents’ plan for her and getting her degree in accounting without ever thinking about what she was truly passionate about, she thought I was lucky enough to have pursued my passion in art, and suddenly, I was out of my mind.

That was ten years ago, when I realized that in this industry, there was no job available for me, a nobody without anything aside from a bachelor’s degree in arts. I had to work five days as a full-time sales associate in a shoe boutique to support myself, which left me with two other days in a local art gallery. It virtually paid me nothing other than the opportunity to cut cheese and pour wine for the guests.

So here we are, after a full five years of breakup, trying all the possible job positions from baristas to sales associates in multiple industries, before finally getting back together with art three years ago, I am very comfortable to say I am happy as a creative.
It is a kind of happiness that is not for everyone.
You have to enjoy the free fall.
You know there’s no existing demand for what you are creating. But you have to go out and convince people that what you’ve created is something somewhat valuable.
while there is no rule restricting what you eventually want to make, create, or achieve, you still follow as if you’re in a religion that only has one person in it, being both the god and the believer:
you.

Naichen, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

They know me as an ‘influencer.’ But,
I make paintings.
I make video arts.
I make animations.
I write about arts.
I curate shows.
I comment on art and its makers, record them, and upload them to social media.
I have always been confused about who I am, what my position is in this industry.
But I guess I have already have one by merely following my impulse to create.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I think there are two things that I hope I knew from the very beginning. The first is that you should see as many as possible when you are starting up. The next step is to distill it into a group containing your own favorite ones. There would always be one post in all these social media accounts, from which their followers booms. Your final job is to find it, and learns from it.
The second thing is that you should post as many as possible to find out what your edge is. You may not know it from the beginning, but you will realize it is your strongest suit after a series of trial and errors.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

While everyone is losing passion about NFTs, I still hope they can be helpful for performance artists and video artists to monetize from their works of art.

Contact Info:

• Website: naichenpan.org
• Instagram: thefortunecookiemanifesto