Meet Chloe Yamaguchi

We were lucky to catch up with Chloe Yamaguchi recently and have shared our conversation below.

Chloe, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

In today’s society, there exists a prevailing sense of entitlement toward art. When nurtured properly, this feeling can create appreciation and beauty. However, the rise of ai has started to negatively impact this, threatening the essence of creativity itself. With a digital world that now prioritizes quantity over quality, preserving a unique creative style can feel overwhelming.

I’ve learned that the key to fostering creativity lies not in comparison, but in empathy—understanding the experiences and emotions of others. By engaging with diverse perspectives, we can convey new ideas and give nuance to our works. It is this connection to humanity that gives life to our art.

Continually, failure is not only inevitable in the creative process but also a frequent occurrence. I often struggle with this, wanting perfection for my pieces, yet I find that keeping the bigger picture in mind helps me navigate these challenges. While I may dislike imperfections in my work, it is precisely these flaws that contribute to its uniqueness. Each mistake is an opportunity for growth, allowing me to one day reflect on my progress and appreciate how far I’ve come.

No one is born a master at what they do; skill must be cultivated, and creativity is no exception to this idea. A persons mindset is the greatest tool to keep their creativity alive. With this, I encourage others to embrace risks in their artistic endeavors, experiment with new mediums, make countless mistakes, and view every misstep as a valuable lesson. Let your creativity be a reflection of who you are, and live fully for the art that expresses your individuality.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Currently I’m going into my freshman year of college, majoring in my dream animation program. My ultimate goal is to one day open my own studio and put to screen all the stories I’ve crafted through the years. I’ve always loved art and cartoons, as most kids do, but it wasn’t until I was older that i realized I could dedicate my life to it. Any artist can relate to being told to be practical about a career but I’ve never wanted to listen, art is just too important to me. Creativity can never be replaced, and my passion for art and fostering a love for film in a new generation will always keep me determined.
As a means to keep my motivation up, aswell as document my journey, I’ve started posting online on both Instagram and TikTok under the username Artizuri. While I’m still new to being a creator on these platforms, the experience has been so amazing and informative. I’ve begun learning ways to market myself, reach new audiences, and start learning the foundations of animation and editing as I create reels. Being a new account I can still say things are a mess, however as I continue to create my style and content will become more defined. For now just knowing there are some people who see and like my work is such a special feeling that is nearly impossible to describe. Things seem small now but to me it’s so much more than I could’ve ever imagined. I hope to keep growing my accounts and maybe one day in the future I can use them as a means to make money to put towards my studio.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I would say the 3 qualities that impacted my journey most were my determination-that some would argue is stubbornness but I digress- balance, and desire to learn. These qualities pushed me to continue art and begin considering it as a profession. Without my determination to keep creating, despite concerns about picking a more stable career, I would have no clue what I would want to do for the rest of my life. It is thanks to my determination that I came to the realization that art is my life and if I’m going to dedicate my life to a job it might aswell be to one I love. Continually to avoid a burnout or not have enough time to create I focused on balancing my schedule to foster growth but not overwhelm. To achieve this, I used my elective spaces in school to take advanced art classes in order to grow my skills and give me plenty of opportunities to create. I would highly recommend this to other young artists as it is a fantastic way to keep yourself motivated but not interfere with other aspects of your academic career. Moreover if one does struggle with these skills another fantastic way to develop them would be setting specific schedules and/or blocking out specific time periods for learning and developing techniques. Art takes time, but with a dedication to keep learning and a means to balance it with other aspects of your life it can take you to many wonderful opportunities.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I’m always looking for people to work with! With my desire to go into animation, it’s become so important to me to find other aspiring artists who share my passion. You can’t create a universe alone and I can’t wait to form a community with those who want to share a part of building it with me. Currently, the best way to contact me would be through my Instagram @artizuri. I would love to branch out to others and work on projects such as collaborating on a trend, taking part in a project another is working on, or beginning something new entirely. I’m open to a variety of opportunities with those in the art community I hope to make friendships along the way.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizuri?igsh=MTNrNXVhM3JvY3VhaQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@artizuri?_t=ZP-8yWm8g6Aa34&_r=1

Image Credits

Credits to riot games for the arcane piece and https://pin.it/6xuEzMzjk for the Pinterest reference of the Pedro pascal study