Today we’d like to introduce you to Vanessa Kwan.
Vanessa, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My mother lived beneath a mountain in Canada when she was pregnant with me. When I was born and we moved somewhere more inland, she would tell me stories of a little Chinese girl, and blueberry bushes, and a big, black bear.
I spent most of my life in Vancouver, BC. I grew up nestled between the forest and the sea. Before art became my thing, I was going to go into sciences—medicine, marine biology, heck, become an astronaut. I still dream about those deep-sea excursions where they lower you 10,000 ft into the Mariana Trench and let the entire weight of the ocean rest on you and your tin-pod. I think my obsessions were equal part of hunger and escapism. I wanted to take apart my world, and I wanted to know something bigger than it.
Something clicked in tenth grade. Turns out, I wasn’t really interested in the “science” part of science. I romanticized the adventure of discovery. And now, for the first time, I was scared of an unknown. Throughout all of this teenage angst and self-realization, I was drawing and painting and doing whatever a sad, gay teenager does in their sophomore year.
I originally pursued video game design and concept art. I spent my very first summer in LA at Art Center’s “Entertainment Design” intensive. This put the nail in the coffin of my scientist’s future (in the best way possible). I loved world-building—I loved the world the way a mother would, fantasizing its birth and future and anxieties and all the minute and inconsequential things.
Finally, I ended up at CalArts’ Character Animation program. I graduated with a specialization in Story.
This is my fifth year in LA. I love its sun and its orange hues and the purple-pink marine layer. The novelty of palm trees has never gotten old to me, nor has California’s burning summers. However, I have to say that a lot of my films and work involve rebuilding my childhood world. Raising mountains and shaping water. I miss the burn of cold air. I miss torrential rain and being miserable at a bus stop. I miss a tall, tall tree.
A lot of my personal work is about me capturing what I miss and missed—things I was too stuck in my head to appreciate or appropriately feel sad about. I’m building myself from the ground up, and I hope people can see a little bit of themselves in the moments I’m trying to recapture.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
When it comes to my work, the thing I’ve struggled most with was, “How personal is too personal?”. They always say to speak from your own experience, but the buzzkill in the back of my mind sometimes feels guilty. Especially as a queer Chinese person, the process feels overindulgent. Life is funny like that—how it can make you feel so, so small and then suddenly it points its fingers at you like the big pink elephant in the room.
As if I’m too much, or like I’m caught red-handed raiding the fridge at 3:00am. Honestly though, it’s my fridge. What has the world come to if I can’t let myself enjoy this one thing?
Please tell us more about your art.
I’m currently a storyboard artist at Marvel Studios. I love boarding action and drama and developing characters and relationships.
As well, I’ve created six short films over the course of my time at CalArts. My most recent film, “Losing to Alexis Lee”, is the child of my favorite disciplines: prose and film—sun and torrential rain. Running through the woods—running towards danger. It’s an homage to my hometown and childhood and love as a losing game (in the best way possible).
I’m a pretty active person—I’m a runner, a martial artist, and I’ve recently gotten into powerlifting. I love studying the physicality of action and how it translates onto the screen.
I also have a passion for writing, and when it comes to boarding dramatic and heartfelt scenes, it’s fun to translate my writing-brain to my drawing-brain.
In my own time, I’m working on some comic and graphic novel ideas. I love exploring different methods of storytelling, apart from boarding, and I’m always open to learning new things.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
With so many companies and streaming services producing their own shows and animated content, the industry is in a new age. Nothing is really certain, but I do see a shift in the diversity of stories being told. I’m excited to see where the future leads us. I’m very fortunate to be part of this shift, and hopefully, I’ll be able to let my story join the fold.
Contact Info:
- Website: Vanessakwan.art
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: Instagram.com/synnyi
- Twitter: Twitter.com/nesynn
- Other: https://vimeo.com/vanessakwan
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