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

Alright, Christie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

I constantly feel misunderstood and mischaracterized as a creative that has my hands in many different pockets of work. I can’t point to any story in particular, but in a society that tends to value and identify people by their answer to “what do you do for work?” I always end up feeling like I am trapped in a box while simultaneously going through an identity crisis. My day job is as an architect, but I am also a working artist and a community space holder. I am constantly working on new projects that don’t necessarily fit in a single job description.

In my twenties, I thought I was going to climb the corporate ladder in architecture, but the past 8 years of my life has taught me that there is more for me to explore than my day job. I started to follow my gut instincts in exploring different forms of creativity and the lesson I am still learning is that I don’t need to be “defined” as one thing or another. I can just “be” and I can change, shift, grow, and be multiple identities all at once.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am an architectural designer and artist, but more aptly consider myself a space maker and space holder.

I studied architecture with the naive thought that I would be changing the world by helping people. In High School I worked with an organization (Gawad Kalinga) that raised money to help build homes for those in poverty in the Philippines and it inspired me to go into architecture with the simple intent of providing people with one of the main basic human needs– shelter. It was also a compromise of my parent’s desire for me to pursue something “stable” and my own desire to do something “creative.” But I ended up in high end residential for the better part of a decade, working for the ultra-rich (celebrities included) designing McMansions in the Hamptons and California instead of helping those in poverty.

I began to feel drained and disconnected to my relationship with design and turned to watercolor painting as a way to let my creativity flow without the rules and restraints of building codes and clients’ desires. Painting became an outlet for me to explore my personal inquiries of cultural and societal themes. Through this process, I began to realize how intrinsically linked those themes were to my own personal journey of self discovery and healing, and eventually birthed my company, The Thiiirds. It was originally conceived as a platform to support, connect, and educate creatives on the ways that art and design can be used for societal and personal healing, but the company is currently going through its own death and rebirth cycle. I hope to re-launch in 2025 with the same vision, but for a wider audience. Art is healing to all and I plan to host art workshops, somatic experiences, and other events than help people unleash their innate creativity.

Over the past few years, I have studied tarot, astrology, tantra, and am also trained in two-stage Pranayama Breathwork and Sound Therapy. I also just completed my Certificate in Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice in Design from The New School this past April, so that “identity crisis” I spoke of earlier still sometimes comes back to me. But I remind myself that the goal is to share and educate people on the endless ways we can find balance and internal alignment by accessing our inner power to create not just art, but different futures and realities for ourselves and the collective as a whole.

While I am working on re-launching The Thiiirds, I did find my way back into architectural design and am much happier now working with wellness and medical brands that are looking to change the landscape of the healthcare industry. I have worked on roll-outs with Tend Dental, Peachy, and Oula Maternity. I am currently working with a neurological brand that focuses on out-patient infusion therapy. With these brands, I have been involved in deep diving into what the client’s mission is and understanding the in’s and out’s of their operations so that we can provide optimal and unique patient experiences. It has been a blessing to be able to find a way to make my naive High School vision of helping people come to life through architecture!

I also co-founded an all Filipina Art Collective, called “Tsismosas”. Our mission is “to empower, inspire, and shed light on the often marginalized narratives, struggles, and histories of AAPI/BIPOC communities through art exhibitions, inclusive community gatherings, and innovative creative initiatives… While loosely translated as “gossip” in English [‘Tsismis’], within the Filipino culture, holds nuances of both playful banter and societal stereotypes. Embracing the moniker of “Tsismosas,” we reclaim the narrative by creating art that sparks dialogue and dismantles taboos within our diaspora, catalyzing conversations around subjects that are frequently left unspoken, overlooked, or are in need of redefinition.”

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

In all my creative pursuits, I have learned the slow and hard way to let go of the idea of “perfectionism.” I went through a very difficult time before the pandemic dealing with personal matters. Once the pandemic hit, my firm laid off the managers above me, and I was “given more responsibility” and “the chance to grow” with no change in title or no additional pay– aka I was cheaper labor. Between my personal and professional life going up in flames, I started to have anxiety attacks almost daily. I started therapy and realized that I was also a High-Functioning Perfectionist living in a time when the whole world was going through upheaval. The pressure I was putting on myself was unrealistic and unhelpful.

As an architectural project manager with a few years under my belt now, and as a budding entrepreneur, I have learned that nothing I produce will be perfect and that I never will know all the answers. The real skill to build is learning how to approach solving the problem(s)– and a lot of the time, that means asking for help and leaning on the expertise of others.

As creatives, we always want to show our best, finished work, but both teammates and potential clients benefit from seeing our character shine through when problems do arise and observing how we handle ourselves in coming up with a solution that works.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My creative journey has been very fluid and I simply just lean into the things that call to me. I identify with the phrase “so well rounded they have no point.” That’s often how I feel, as I am one of those types of people that is attracted to learning and exploring new (and often obscure) hobbies, but I truly believe that in the end– all those parts and pieces of my soul will come together to create a life that makes sense for me.

Where I am on my journey right now has been pointing to a communion with Mother Earth and the need for all of us to connect with Her. I have combined my love of the outdoors with foraging and now with painting by exploring the world of botanical inks and natural paints. I go on walks and forage for plant matter, collect them and extract color from them to make “watercolors.” It’s a very meditative process and one that is actually quite accessible, so it is something I am passionate about teaching about (keep an eye out for my workshops in 2025!)

Contact Info:

• Website: christierafol.com ; thethiiirds.com
• Instagram: @christie_just_adds_water ; @the_thiiirds
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3Jceb8icl0
• Other: https://bushwickdaily.com/arts-culture/filipino-tsismosas-collective-gallery-show-brooklyn/

  https://www.tagalikha.com/articles/passion-worth-the-cost

Image Credits

DSC06598.jpg – please credit to Breanne Dorsey