We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Anisa Li-A-Ping. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Anisa below.
Alright, Anisa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
I created a character back in 2020 called “A.I. (ambiguous individuals).” It’s based on a self portrait I did back in 2016.
A.I. (ambiguous individuals) represents the duality that encompasses both a human’s individuality as well as humankind’s collective unity. They serves as a representation for all people – you, me and them.
I hope one day my charcacter can encourage our global community to help us celebrate and think about our similarities, instead of focusing on our differences.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’m a visual artist based in New York City. I’ve been creating art for as long as I can remember. I was really into video games so I wanted to become a 3D modeler. I went to the School of Visual Arts to major in Computer Art and Visual Effects. But after college my goals as an artist changed. I found myself wanting to work in the fine arts world so I applied to some residencies and now I’m a part of ARTWORKS at Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning in Jamaica, Queens, New York.
I also work as a graphic designer by day and freelance visual artist by night. I’m still very much in love with the digital side of the art world. I used my 3D modeling skills to create my character A.I. (ambiguous individuals) which I’m currently making into a collectible figurine.
My work overall represents the journey of self discovery and how our emotions affect the body. I hope to inspire people and my goal is leaving a mark on the everchanging art world.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Believing other people’s opinions are better than my own. I found myself unsatisfied with the work I was putting out. I would use people’s opinions on my art to try and please the crowd. I had become so used to satisfying professors and clients that I forgot how to make art for myself. It took a while to break free from that mindset but ever since then my work has gotten stronger. I was once working on a 3D portrait that almost took 3 years because I made people’s opinions into facts thus hindering the progress of the piece. I finally stopped asking for opinions and trusted myself which led to me completing the project. It ended up being a success and I’m glad I had that experience because it helped me to gain confidence.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
I love being able to step back and see what I created and seeing people’s reaction. It’s also cool being able to make something out of nothing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nissyli.com/
- Instagram: https://www.nissyli.com/
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anisa-li-a-ping-55b25715b/