Today we’d like to introduce you to Sophie Tianxin Chen.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Sophie Tianxin. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
My story begins with a lot of moving around. I was born and raised in Mainland China. Unlike my parents who were well educated and went through the most competitive college entering exams, I was struggling a lot with school and the Chinese teaching system. I had to drop out and leave the country to pursue education somewhere else. I first went to Singapore, then Canada, where I took theater classes in the international school I was attending. That was the very first step of my journey of becoming an artist.
At 18 I got into School of the Art Institute of Chicago as a film majored student. I have always had a passion for films. Prior to college I already collected about 600 bootleg DVDs. They were mostly foreign films, such as Peter Greenaway, Leos Carax, and Kim Ki-Duk to name a few. After a couple of years studying I realized that this country was probably the worst place to make art-house films. So I turned to Photography. It became the medium of my practice ever since.
A few years later, I relocated to LA to study at UCLA’s MFA program. My first apartment was in Culver City, right next to our grad studio because I didn’t know how to drive. Biking on Venice Blvd then catching a bus was not fun. I moved to the valley immediately after I got my driving license. Now I have been living in the same house for six years.
LA is so big and every neighborhood has its own unique vibe and characters. Most of my friends never understood why I moved to Burbank, but I love the suburban lifestyle, it compensates all the moving around I had, and also has everything I need, photo lab, places you can buy raw materials (to make art), good cinema and etc.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Of course there were moments I never thought I could get over with, or at times goals were not clear and the future seemed to be in the shadow. That is so natural and I wouldn’t use either “easy” or “difficult” to describe my path. I learned that being open with failures, understanding that I will never become who I am not, and taking things at my own pace are important. I am happy about where I am and grateful for all the things I have.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I am a visual artist using photography as medium. I construct scenes with body and ordinary objects to respond to personal events. The images are made with strong intentions and approached by performances and loose narratives. They are not documentation of performances. I think the best way to describe them is, they are photographs of the decisions of being photographed.
Besides that, I am also a freelance photo producer/content creator for fashion/lifestyle companies. Sometimes it can be a relief from my personal projects so I quite enjoy it. I just work on project intensively for a few weeks, then wrap up, it’s all done. I get my daughter some new toys and few treats for my dogs. Plus I always end up meeting nice people and hearing their interesting stories.
I like plants and spend a lot of time on my gardens.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Nothing is better than the moment of making work.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tianxinchen.com (art/personal) www.la-public.com (commissioned work)
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @sophietianxinchen
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