Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Fiona Chinkan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Fiona, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
As of this May, I have been a full-time artist for 5 years. Previous to this, I worked in the fashion industry as an art director and graphic designer for 10 years. A lot of people believe when someone leaves a corporate gig to pursue their dreams that they just woke up that morning and decided “I’m quitting!” But for me it was progressive and involved a lot of planning.
Since graduating art school in 2007 and moving to NYC, I was always making art alongside working as an art director, but I would never show my work to anyone. For the longest time, I was purely making for myself. I think especially in this social media age, it’s important for artists to take that time (even if it’s years like I did) to hone their creative voice. Making art while working a full-time creative job can be challenging too as I put a lot of effort into my art director job and that did take away from my creative energy sometimes. But I moved forward doing small works or pieces in sketchbooks whenever I could.
Everything changed for me in 2014 when I was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition called “Spondyloarthropathy”. The disease had progressed to a point where I had difficulty walking, severe backpain that would keep me up at night and impaired vision due to inflammation in my right eye. Luckily an eye doctor spotted all the symptoms and sent me to a rheumatologist for treatment. To get the disease back under control took months of trying different medications and so it was during this time that I retreated back into my art making more than ever before. During those months, I made my first full body of work for the first time since being in art school.
Around this time, I had been working in-house at a fashion brand and helping create content for their instagram account. My husband said to me, “Why don’t you make an instagram for your art? People make accounts just for their dogs, so surely you can make one for that.” So on New Years Day 2015, I decided to give it a shot. When I shared my art, friends, family and co-workers were all shocked, not realizing I had been doing this for a long time. I also started to get messages from other local NYC artists asking me to participate in shows they were putting together. That’s when I decided outside of my work hours, I would try to participate in as many art opportunities as possible.
Eventually it got to a point where I would be up at 5am creating work for art fairs before my 8am photoshoot call time for my job. I was burning the candle at both ends and something had to change. In 2017, I was doing a month long artist residency in conjunction with my job. I would commute from the art center back to my job for photoshoots then back to the art center after. In the 2 years of showing my art, I had also been selling it and had garnered a small collector base. I came home from that residency feeling fulfilled from doing what I love, but also determined to give being an artist full-time a shot. I said this to my husband and he said “Let’s make a plan”.
So I spent an entire year saving whatever money I could, that way I would have a cushion when I left corporate and began to focus on more art selling opportunities through art fairs, shows, social media and building my own website. When it came time to leave, I felt ready and had a plan of what was next. The morning after I quit, I woke up without an alarm clock and thought “Oh my goodness. I really did it.” I made myself a tea and went into my art studio (the second bedroom of our Brooklyn apartment) to create. At lunch time, I stopped to take a break and checked my email. Ends out an old co-worker had shared my artist website with a friend who was working in marketing for an ice cream brand and they thought my artwork would be perfect for a new packaging project. So this was a chance meeting opportunity moment. If I hadn’t made that website and shared my artwork, I would’ve never received this opportunity. I was ready.
Since then I’ve been able to create a business from a combination of selling original art, public art projects, brand sponsorships, artist grants and more. It’s not without it’s up’s and down’s. I gave up the stability of full-time corporate work, but I feel so incredibly fulfilled to be able to do what I love every day.
Fiona, 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?
I’m a New Jersey based artist who specializes in bright, bold, colorful abstracts that spark joy. Whether that is through ceramics, paintings or public art. I began my signature style of drawings in 2001, as a way to accompany graffiti lettering I was exploring at the time. Over the years, I developed the lines and forms as a means to express myself and interpret the world around me. I graduated cum laude in 2007 from the University of Hartford Art School with a BFA concentration in Visual Communication Design, minors in Photography and Art History. I moved to New York City post graduation to pursue a career in graphic design and worked as a digital art director in the fashion industry for 10 years before deciding to pursue art full-time. I moved back to New Jersey in 2020 and now create out of my home studio.
My personal approach to artwork is to have a dialogue with each piece I create. If I were to plan every brushstroke ahead of time, I don’t believe it would be as interesting of a conversation. As an abstract artist, I’m able to really invest myself into a work and explore my emotions on a deeper level when I leave room to react to the surface as I build layer upon layer. There is something exciting about starting a new work with an idea in my head, but then seeing the unknown unfold as I let the moment lead me. There is a constant push and pull between being in control and letting chaos rule, which I enjoy. Even with the installation, I like a level of flexibility. I can plan everything inch by inch, but I may miss an opportunity that comes up in the present if I’m too attached to a plan. Being in the present in the moment and being open to possibilities is what excites me about the creative process.
I saw James Victore speak many years ago and he said something that has stuck with me. He asked the audience, “what is the most important part of business?” People replied with “money”, “productivity”, “efficiency”, etc. He replied, “No. The most important part is play.” As adults, we spend so much time in schedules and having every aspect of our lives planned, that we forget to “play”. Even with creating artwork, some artists forget to “play”. I like to leave myself open to “play” in my creative process.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I often get asked about art fairs and how to participate in them. I remember not knowing anything about them when I started participating in them and there weren’t many resources on navigating art fairs. So, I created an art fair checklist that is free for artists to download with a video explaining them here: https://youtu.be/9JF-nDGxK-k
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
HOW DO I STAY INSPIRED? This a question asked all the time of artists. Artists asking other artists. How do we stay inspired and thus continue creating constantly?! I may have a controversial opinion here, but I think making art is less about being “inspired” and more about “just making lots of work”. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad, it’s just about the practice. The good stuff tends to come out of making lots of bad stuff. I think there’s this impression that artists sit around all day until suddenly a lighting bolt of inspiration hits: They run to their canvas and create an amazing masterpiece! I don’t know…maybe this IS how it is for you…in which case, must be nice. But most of us working artists approach it like any other job: you get up, make your coffee and get to work. You struggle, you laugh, you fail, you meditate, you self-doubt, you love it, you try again and again. Then through all of that, something amazing happens. You make a work you’re really proud of! Best feeling ever right? SO if you are having trouble getting started with a practice, I’d recommend beginning with sketchbook work. It feels less intimidating blank sheet of paper or canvas and is typically smaller. You will eventually make the jump from the sketchbook once you build that confidence up a bit. Lord knows I filled sketchbook upon sketchbook my earlier years! With all that said, if you are still looking for ways to stir your creativity pot, this is what I tend to do:
– Visit museums and galleries. This is my favorite way to get inspired. Just seeing art in the flesh gets my head spinning with ideas to try. I’ll write them down in my phone notes so I don’t forget later!
– Watch documentaries and read books about artists. Watching other artists work gets me hyped up and willing to try new techniques.
– Travel to new AND old places. You never know what you’ll discover. Take lots of photos to reflect back on!
– Look back on your own work. Sometimes you may see something in a new light that you were chipping away at previously and have energy to retackle it.
– Check out other artists on Instagram and use the “save” feature for future reference.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.fionac.nyc/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fionac.nyc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Fionac.nyc
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fiona-clark-chinkan-83b1b668
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/fionacart
Image Credits
Headshots by Colleen Macmillan