An Inspired Chat with J’ Atelier9 ™️ of Los Angeles

J’ Atelier9 ™️ shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Good morning J’ Atelier9 ™️, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? Have you stood up for someone when it cost you something?
Absolutely! I have stood up for emerging artists and for myself..

When I initially entered into the fine arts space, I didn’t realize the Pay to Play model would be at the heart of an extremely competitive saturated market, where you must continually expend in order to gain the needed broad exposure & recognition.

I’ve had to defy the odds for emerging artists and for myself; to navigate alternatives and create my own solo exhibition opportunities without the high costs, when others warned it would be extremely difficult to get a solo show without the financial outlay. I was able to land a solo exhibition at the Glenmark from my own research & efforts. I also steered & assisted another photographer artist into getting a solo show, while I secured my another solo show for myself at the Mary Paxon Gallery. I wanted to help & support other emerging artists to gain their desired exposure…

My inspiration was to a pave a way where both artist & gallery could mutually benefit, while adding value to cultural impact & community. Identifying these unique opportunities can be an arduous task, where many peers may not necessarily share information & resources. There’s an underbelly of hushing & whispers when it comes to exhibition opportunities. Defying the traditional barriers takes constant determination, focus, and grit. The sacrifice of time becomes the investment and cost, which is part of the lesson. The barrier breaking results are from your perseverance, consistency, & timely efforts..

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
The story of my artist brand, J’ Atelier9 ™️ has significant meaning to my artistry.

When I decided to become a sustainable fine artist, the first thing I did was trademark my J’ Atelier9 ™️ brand and special mark logo.

I didn’t know exactly how I was going to get trademark & logo approved, yet I knew I was determined to succeed without hiring a trademark counsel or attorney. At the core of my brand as a sustainable fine artist, is a studio (an atelier or work shop, as the French call it), where all imagination & visionary inspirations are born.

I wanted to incorporate my name, Janine, into my unique artist brand. Growing up, my nickname was JA9, which ultimately is the acronym used for J’ Atelier9 ™️..

After countless phone calls, messages, & emails to USPTO (US Patent Trademark Office), they had inquired about the meaning of my trademark and logo. Truthfully, I created the new word for my artist brand from utilizing the JA9 acronym. It stems from the French word, J’adore, meaning I love you. J ‘Atelier9 ™️ signifies my love for an art studio.. my atelier. Translating it as I love Atelier 9 = I love Studio 9 = J’ Atelier9 ™️.

I knew crafting my art name & brand would be necessary & viral to my identity, as J’ Atelier9 ™️ would be my agency and representation of my sustainable artisan practice & discipline.

My deeply rooted frugal beginnings, humble and cultural upbringing conditioned me to reuse & repurpose early on.. During my childhood, I didn’t have pricey toys; only inexpensive stuffed animals (made the tiny styrofoam beads in them & glued felt material eyes) which I would win at the fair as a prize. And I recall being so excited for getting a stuffed toy prize.

This influenced my philosophy and extended into my sustainable mindfulness. My artistry discipline focuses on a movement towards a “circular sustainable environmental cycle” by sourcing reclaimed materials into my practice to heighten my impact on carbon footprint & challenge my creativity with different substrates or reclaimed objects.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Being a Chinese American immigrant from Hong Kong at only 3 years old, I grew up with the typical and traditional Chinese culture. My parents migrated to America with their hard earned, entire life savings (approximately $600 USD) and 2 little toddlers. They were sponsored by my aunt whom lived in Hollywood, CA.

As new guests in the dream filled land of opportunity, my parents were determined to plant roots and bring along their cultural traditions as they became legal residents and citizens. My father would search for work daily, while trying to learn English..

Truthfully like most immigrants, we had nothing.. and eventually we settled into a tiny 2 bedroom apartment in Burbank, CA; where my brother & I shared a bedroom. The humbling start was the only way for my family to build our foundation; one baby step at a time..

My brother & I went to the neighborhood public school. Outside of school, my parents never enrolled us into any other activities, summer camps, specialty classes, or sports teams because of the costs and cultural barriers. I distinctly recall asking my mother to enroll me in modeling classes as a child, and I remember she immediately turned me down & refused.

My parents couldn’t afford to buy us any new clothes or toys, They were accustomed savers. Material items were unnecessary luxuries., so my dear mother would sew our clothes from scraps or dead stock scratch fabrics.

However, one day I told my mother I wanted to play the piano. My parents agreed & saved up for a Wurlitzer piano because they felt it was a worthy educational investment, My brother & I took piano lessons to explore our musical curiosities. .

Culturally as a child, I was never conditioned or programmed to believe there was a Santa Claus. There were no Christmas gifts under our Christmas tree. I thought Santa never stopped by our home, while the neighborhood children had loads of presents & toys. This was attributed as part of the cultural barriers & economic disparities.

Except, there was one time.. a distinctive memory I sharply recall, where my Mother wrapped a tiny gift for me and pulled it from her pocket. It was a little plastic toy and I remember grinning with joy because it was the only Christmas present I had ever received from my mother. Such simple pleasures can hold sentimental value..

There was a lot of sacrifice and rigorous work by my determined father. While we didn’t have much; we were safe, nourished, protected, and loved.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Unspoken suffering can be debilitating on the mindset.. As humans, we all experience degrees of suffering, pain, anguish, disappointment, set backs, loss, and rejection. Yet, those difficult moments teach you the fragility of human spirit.

How you pick yourself up after each fall determines your emotional fortitude, strength, and the power of self manifestation..

Suffering exposes you to the hardships of life. It builds character & resilience in dealing with how to cope and overcome them. I’ve suffered from tremendous losses and it has humbled me in profound ways. It leaves behind.. deep scars & wounds. Yet, the self empowerment attributed from suffering becomes the fuel & catalyst..

Success is usually the result of your consistency, perseverance, grit, and relentless determination..

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What truths are so foundational in your life that you rarely articulate them?
As a sustainable artist, my discipline is to reclaim, recreate, and repurpose with provoking narratives and statements.. I tend to highlight deceptive truths embedded in our daily lives. How truly sustainable are the materials, methods, products we use (from the empirical or scientific research)? How much of what we recycle is actually used & reused for recycling? Who is policing our reconciling the advertised claims on sustainability? Are we fooling ourselves with a facade, false narratives, or relying upon a placebo effect to feel good about it? What you see is not necessarily what you get; the ugly lies versus the raw truths.. Tackling them has been part of the process of inquisitive and being well informed.

The easy access to information, misinformation, and disinformation provides us vast exposure of varieties on narratives, conflicts, and contrasting perspectives,

Our attention span & limited bandwidth can be forced to go on autopilot and defense mode, in deciphering all the data, output, and claims.

Factoring the difference sources while mixed in with questionable lies, conspiracies, filters, censorship, and diversions.. we are perpetually fed with mislabeling, false advertising, and limited facts or non disclosure; our internal feed is programmed & conditioned to process or eliminate the continuous overload.

The subtle propaganda and media glorification within our complex matrix of manipulation, corruption, power, control and greed can be exhausting & overbearing.

Alhough it takes more time and effort, I tend research and investigate the facts to decipher what is baseless or false. Yet many of us are wired and programmed to believe the deceit or facade.. as this is part of our infrastructure and matrix.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What false labels are you still carrying?
How we present ourselves gives people an initial impressions about us, whether or not they are an accurate depiction or an illusion..

As I have said, what you see is not necessarily what you get..

And social media has exemplified these falsehoods by showcasing snapshots, videos of highlighted moments in a post or reel. The front stage is always entertaining. Eventually, I realized I needed step away, to stop feeding into these false narratives and get off the spinning hamster wheel.. It is liberating to covet your privacy and not have to share every aspect of living. Selective showcasing has become normalized, adding to societal depression.

People will presume to know me based upon my appearance, mystique, persona, or style.. They will make many inaccuracies assumptions about me or they may be curious about my background.

Ironically, in a world littered with false labels, we each carry of multitude of ignorance… as we directly and indirectly feed into the lies, consuming false labels from the packaging of foods, goods, products, and services..

Privacy has become an invaluable commodity, as our patterns, behaviors, interests are being scrutinized, collected – our data exploited.. Invasion to privacy protections has become the standard protocol to monetize on our consumptive behavior, predictable model, and rendered services. In the end, we are exploitable..

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @jatelier9
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janinetang

Image Credits
J’ Atelier9™️