Meet Vanilla Chi | Illustrator, Designer & Self-Publisher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Vanilla Chi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Vanilla, what are you inspired by?
I am generally inspired by traditional East Asian art, I’m especially fascinated by the ‘architectural’ aesthetics of order. The delicate and detailed aesthetic is genuinely my personal preference. Also, I love the beauty of mathematics, physics and experimental diagrams, so my works are usually geometric. At the same time, I appreciate the vitality conveyed by maximalism.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a rather egotistical and paranoid person in terms of creativity and always uphold the spirit of criticism. Outsider Artists and Folk Artists have been a great influence on me. One of my teachers once said that creative people end up with a huge ego, so I try to put myself down and avoid using the so-called ‘artist’ to label myself. From my very personal perspective, people who enter the art system are not pure in their creative work, they don’t do ‘pure art’ under my definition. Even if they do, it is tough to achieve.

And that’s why I admire outsider and folk artists, who truly do observe, record, and create without being held hostage by marketing, without thinking about “Where is my audience?,” and “How do I cater to my audience?” I don’t think I have done good enough so far, but at least, becoming such an artist is my ultimate goal.

Being a freelancer has always been a difficult thing to do. Until now I can’t say I’ve been a commercially successful creative, but I’m satisfied that I’m following my own pace.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I will bring my friends to Chinatown in Manhattan, New York. Chinatown is a very interesting community. Unlike Chinatowns that are a tourist attraction in other cities in the US or UK, New York’s Chinatown is a real “small world”. We can see a microcosm of China before 2000 and the creative power of new immigrants. Chinatown is self-sustaining, a stable system of internal circulation.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
A Chinese anthropologist Xiang Biao once proposed the concept of “proximity”: “proximity” is the place of daily life around each person, and the link between social groups to generate interaction and communication, and to form human connections at the level of meaning.

After the covid epidemic started in 2020, I often felt a sense of “floating” and disconnected from my family and my surroundings. That’s why I started my project in New York City’s Chinatown, and I’m continuing it now. I don’t want to define myself by any identity, but I think my work is naturally a voice for the ordinary people around me, for women, and for the Asian community.

Website: vanillachi.com

Instagram: @vanilla_hchi