Meet Van Chung of Taipei and Orange County

Today we’d like to introduce you to Van Chung

Hi Van, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Vietnam and moved to the US at age 6. My single mother and I had difficulty adjusting to a new language, culture, and environment. Over the years, we found our community and support structure, which shaped Orange County and Los Angeles into our new home.

I had an amazing teacher, Ms. Gilmore, in 5th grade that changed the trajectory of my life. She believed in me and encouraged me to audition for art school. I was accepted, which developed my budding interest and passion for the arts, especially visual arts.

Throughout college, I continued to take art classes while majoring in Communications, and what started as a hobby slowly began to generate income. After almost 4 years in public marketing and social media, I decided the industry was not for me and decided to give illustration a serious shot. Since then, I’ve been living in Taiwan freelance illustrating and teaching English part-time.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My journey has had its bumps. Mostly self-inflicted, I will say. I still grapple with endless self-doubt, decision paralysis and guilt. And of course, the artist’s favorite: imposter syndrome.

Was this a good decision?
Is this financially sustainable?
Is AI going to make artists irrelevant?
Why did I waste my time getting a degree I’ll never use?
Is my mom ashamed of me?
What if no one likes my art?
How do I do my taxes?

These are just a few questions running through my mind all day.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m an illustrator specializing in digital image-making, and occasionally print-making. I’ve done editorial illustrations, brand illustrations, and product illustrations.

A recent project I’m proud of is creating mailer illustrations for the AAPI Victory Fund to help encourage Asian American youths in Orange County to vote. It was rewarding to be able to create art for a meaningful cause.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think risk is necessary to achieve any goal. Risk is just about prioritizing and when you discern what things are the most important to you, the risks become almost negligible. If you find something is too big of a risk, then you need to be honest with yourself and reprioritize.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://vanillala.art
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanillalaart