Today we’d like to introduce you to Annie Chen.
Annie, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
Growing up as an Asian American, there was a lot of focus on math and science in my household. In high school, I was even in a magnet program called math, science, and technology. I knew then that I definitely didn’t want to work in that field. Especially after focusing on it for so long. It wasn’t hard to see I as naturally inclined to art & design. Not sure why I chose interior design exactly for my undergraduate degree, but I supposed I liked the idea of creating spaces and environments. It was, however, hard to convince Asian parents to let you study design!
I went on to receive a BS in Interior Design from the University of Cincinnati. I can’t say enough about University of Cincinnati. The program really gave me a leg up in the professional world. It was a 5 year work/study program. Worked at a variety of places within the spatial realm – architecture, interior design, and experiential production. Eventually I found myself at Giant Spoon, where I still currently am. I started as the first and only experiential designer. Here I had the opportunity to lead some amazing projects (such as SXSWestworld) and to grow the LA design team.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
Professionally, I create interactive environments and spaces within the experiential marketing capacity. This includes conventions, pop-ups, retail, live theatre sets, to name a few. I landed on experiential design within my professional career, because it combines a lot of my interests – spatial design, graphic design, and set design. I really like being able to flex a variety of skill sets, and pace of an experiential project definitely keeps things interesting. My goal with these projects is to create a beautiful immersive environment that involves and emotive guest journey.
In my free time, I love to collage and paint. I find the human form beautiful and interesting. Typically I use watercolors or ink. Visually I am very drawn toward water-based paints.
What responsibility, if any, do you think artists have to use their art to help alleviate problems faced by others? Has your art been affected by issues you’ve concerned about?
As someone who designs spaces, there have been major developments in spatial design strategy and re-thinking how we interact within a space and even with each other. I predict that creative technology will have a major impact within spatial design, but I’m not sure exactly how that is folded in. Experiential has majorly shifted to digital experiences, home delivery kits, or drive through experiences. With every cloud is a silver lining. It’s really terrible our current national and global crises, but also a chance for the design and art community to think about how we can make an impact.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Typically my experiential activation work goes live at a lot of various conventions – SXSW, San Diego Comic-Con, and other conventions of this kind. There are some one-off experiences as well. These projects are only live for a few days, so come support me and see it while it is up! If you see something produced by Giant Spoon, I most likely had some involvement.
In terms of my personal work, I am still figuring out how get my work out there, which may seem a bit surprising. Suggestions in terms of promoting my art would be really appreciated. Also, appreciate anyone reaching out if there are interested in featuring or commissioning work.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.anniehchen.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annastasiafantasia/
Image Credit:
Giant Spoon
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