We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ava Shong a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ava, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
I think everyone has a unique definition of what creativity means to them, and mine comes from mostly the acts of healing and empathy. I have a very intense emotional sensitivity level innately, which means I feel a lot more intensely compared to others, and furniture has become my recent form of art to put forward ideas about empathy and self-sufficiency. With my heightened sensitivity to emotions, I am often inspired by forms of human interaction and the emotional residue, whether it came from films, my own experiences and/or my friends, some strangers, etc. Then, once I have my idea down, I always love to abstractly blur the lines of marketable furniture with fashion and innovation.
So, to nurture my kind of creativity, I actually like to constantly make sure that the space I work in is comfortable, meaningful, and surrounded with empathy.
I take care to only have feel good objects /colour in my space, so I am able to feel focused and feel supported by my surroundings, and hence that influenced my feeling of ease to increase my ability to focus more on my work. Simple, but effective! Comfort and meaning, again, mean different things for different people, so my encouragement is “Dig deep, take it slow, and you will find it!”
It is also very important to keep the people around you empathetic and supportive, because that does something so magical as making you feel not alone, it has been one of the greatest gifts to have found people to be able to trust, and that would not have happened without many fails, of course, while that is the beauty of change.
And don’t forget about your own mental space! We have to constantly reflect and assess what matters to us, and what we can do better. What we should let go, and what we should keep. Don’t let that baggage get too heavy!
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a senior student at SCAD studying Furniture Design, and I am currently working on my senior collection of furniture. As a designer with borderline personality disorder, I really wanted the end goal of my collection to inspire and empower my audience to embrace change. In this current age of information overload and fast technology innovation, I want to bring focus on how we can self-manage our growth mindset and agility. Part of the fun is that I get to play with AI a little bit in the conceptual process, which I am super excited about.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think being open to experiences, building and rebuilding your passion, and being present is really the most impactful.
1. Open to experiences.
By being open to experiences, I let myself try out my personal interests, such as acting, and got to participate and work with a lot of talented students and eventually got a nomination for best actress in the 2021 Golden Hours Film Festival. That surprising event definitely made myself become more confident about my capabilities in the art world.
2. Building and rebuilding your passion.
Being able to speak about my work not only got my ideas across, but also reaffirms myself what I am here for. Never wait till presentation day! And growing up while finishing college, I would say it is common to always have room for correction in your artist statement.
3. Being Present
Meditating once per day really changed my life. Being able to respond to people better, hear them better, and focus better, whether on cramping times or fun times. How could it not be good?! Any other ways to practice intentional focus on the present works.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I actually am! For my senior project, I am looking for Scad students/non-Scad artists to collaborate with me in a gallery show in May-June 2024, to create a room that transcends into the hybrid of AI-inspired pieces and humanized work, an attempt at a new form of interior that is pleasant and exciting and allows living with technology and self. The name of the show is “A New Person”, and the description is free for interpretation. Feel free to email shongboyi@hotmail.com if interested in the plan!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://avashong.wixsite.com/loll
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avashong
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avashong/
Image Credits
Ava Shong
