We were lucky to catch up with James Tupling recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi James , thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?
I had always been creatively sensitive. As a kid I was drawn to stories and would often write my own little short stories or poetry. Language became a way to imagine and create my own worlds. What I wish I understood then, that I understand now, is the powerful connection between the written word and visuals. Visuals can manifest as their own form of thinking but I truly believe that a good idea still forms from being thought through and written down. To be able to articulate the vision through words opens up doors to explore visual motifs and ideas with greater clarity and intention. This becomes even more relevant when we consider the variety of generative art and coding tools that are flooding the market. Had I realized this connection sooner, I think it would’ve framed my work differently and I would’ve ended up as a designer sooner.
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?
Within design it’s common practice to draw from your life experiences to inform the lens in which you approach or produce work. As I continue to pursue my career the more and more I realize that my life and upbringing is anything but common. I grew up in a highly culture infused environment. I was raised by a Canadian Father, and an Argentine mother speaking two languages. This was then compounded further into “third culture” territory when our family moved to Hong Kong and eventually Malaysia. Laying both my family background and the surrounding multicultural environment meant I was decoding alot of culture at a young age. When I started to pursue design in college I was interested in unique cultural intersections and begun experimenting with bi-lingual design. This interest is what informed my academic research for my MFA. I produced a thesis on Cross Cultural Exchange, investigating cultural intersections and see how a methodology for interacting with culture could be created.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Nothing is created in a vacuum. Everything is related. So I think being a creative is about being seen. There is multiple facets to being seen or seeing other but there are a few that come to mind that are really rewarding. The first being conceptually, that your concept speaks to another person of a similar mental or cultural disposition. Using their language, or highlighting niche culture are good examples. In the USA, a country of immigrants, these kinds of representations bring about nostalgia that allows people to identify with the work. So allowing your audience to feel seen and have a connection to work and share that with you is very rewarding. The second is more on the egotistical side but it relates to the idea of being seen as “the artist” or the “creative”. The work is associated with you as a person or practice. This becomes your cultural currency to pursue future projects or building the weight and strength of your ideas. Whether that be getting recognized from your socials or bumping into your fans on the street. Having your work being inspiring to others is inherently of value and I think we forgot how impactful that can be.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I firmly disagree with the notion of the starving artist. There is something to be said about losing the substance of the “work” because of finances but ultimately we need money to live. Andy Warhol famously said “Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.”. So I think society needs to work towards rejecting this stereotype to empower artists to think creatively about the business of art making. Many artists neglect the business side because they feel it takes away from the art. I think the opposite, if you set up strong business framework it will support you in creating even greater art.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jamestupling.com
- Instagram: @jamestupling
