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

Hi Garden, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My parents do three important things right: they have hobbies, they show their support, and they communicate openly, providing me with confidence, safety, and the ability to trust.

For a young girl, it’s crucial to see her mother in roles beyond just being a mom. This visibility helps her develop self-confidence and the courage to explore her own potential, understanding that she can grow into a well-rounded and interesting person. This is the power of role models. From my mother, I’ve gained this confidence and courage. She not only spent ample time with me but also constantly pursued her own interests, such as photography, writing, hiking, and now she particularly enjoys running and pressed flower art. My father also has a wide range of interests, and his greatest strength is inspiring those around him to try new things through his actions. My mother’s interest in running began with his encouragement, and she has now completed multiple half-marathons. My father continually motivates me to broaden my horizons, often saying, “You will know yourself better if you try more.”

The most tangible support my parents have given me is their financial support, which has allowed me to study at an art university in the United States. For example, I’m about to graduate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Fall 2024. However, they’ve also provided countless forms of invisible support that are just as invaluable. For instance, whenever I video call them from China, even if they’re in a meeting, they leave me a message to call back later. They care about the small changes in my life and share the latest family news, like the two hedgehogs and a stray cat that visited our backyard last week. These emotional exchanges make me feel their care and love, even though my father, who is not always expressive, shows his support by asking about the meaning behind my paintings. These small, everyday moments are precious to me, making me feel that even while abroad, my family remains a safe harbor for me.

The ability to communicate openly has been key to strengthening my relationship with my family. This closeness has empowered me to navigate other relationships in my life, teaching me to be patient with myself and others, and to understand that everything is constantly changing. My relationship with my family is not perfect; we often unintentionally hurt each other. Some traumatic experiences from my childhood left me with a sense of fear towards my parents, and this unconscious suppression created more barriers in our communication.

One day, I decided to talk to them about these family traumas and their impact on me. For the first time, we honestly exposed our imperfections instead of hiding them. They apologized, and I told them, “Your apology is important to me, but my wounds won’t disappear overnight. We might need more conversations like this.” My mother said, “I’m very proud of your courage to bring this up. More conversations like this would be great.” My father, a bit embarrassed, said, “I’m a man of action.” Despite his words, our communication has since become much smoother.

Both my parents and I are willing to open up and understand each other, which is the most important thing. When I communicate with myself, I’ve also learned to give myself space, trust my process and my feelings, not to blame myself excessively, and not to shirk responsibility. This approach has significantly benefited my artistic creation, allowing me to explore more media and elements freely.

Garden, 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?

Initially, I was kinda forced into engaging with art. Like the stereotype of Asian parents, my parents made me practicing piano every day. Although I loved music, this forced learning experience made me mistakenly think I hated rhythm, melody, and even all forms of art for a while. It wasn’t until I started painting that I discovered the touch of brushes and paints was different from the cold keys of the piano. They have a light weight but can create varied and substantial strokes. These wonderful experiences made my collaboration with painting feel more natural.

Some people say it’s because I have a talent for it, and I partially agree, but I believe it’s more because my interest flowed naturally this time, rather than being shaped from the start. I’ve been drawing since I picked up a pen at the age of three and have tried many different mediums. Today, my favorites are oil paints, colored pencils, watercolors, and regular gel pens.

I believe there are three most important things an artist:
1. Constantly acquiring new knowledge ( Good artists are often also good anthropologists, writers, travelers, or chefs).
2. Not setting limits for oneself in advance (Whether in terms of ability, space, or money you can make).
3. Not being too harsh on others or oneself (This allows one not to overly fear fluctuations in creative ability, but to focus more on long-term development).

Because of these three principles, I continuously try new mediums (recently, I’ve been trying weaving) and actively connect with industry professionals to understand myself from more perspectives. So far, what I’m most proud of is that I still have confidence in myself and in the industry. As long as I keep creating, keep learning, and cherish the time of myself and others, I can gradually carve out my own path. I hope to further develop in Chicago, then move to New York, and also want to go to Spain. Hopefully my curiosity will always be with me.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I believe it would be beneficial to give more attention to young artists (because I am a young artist myself, haha). Overall, I hope to hear more from established artists about their experiences, such as how they initially made money, how they maintained confidence in themselves, how they supported their fellow artist friends, and how they contributed to the art community. Knowing more details about these aspects would be incredibly valuable.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

One of the main reasons I keep creating is because sometimes I want to express things that I don’t know how to put into words. Some emotions are beyond language, and some memories cannot be described. Additionally, I feel that artistic creation allows me to notice more subtle beauty in life. When I walk through the streets, I become aware of the colors of the nearby buildings and the clothing of the people around me, creating a unique urban atmosphere.
I don’t want this ability to diminish, even though it also makes me more aware of deeper sadness and pain. But how can one have only love without pain? So, I think it’s fair.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pinghuayuan.art/
• Instagram: gardenping5

Image Credits

personal photo credit:
Caroline Sun (Instagram: caroline_vagabond/ Website:https://carolinesun-portfolio.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html)