Daily Inspiration: Meet Tina Rudasingwa

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tina Rudasingwa.

Hi Tina, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up moving a lot, so I was exposed to a lot of different cultures and ways of living at a very early age. It also meant I had many periods where I was considered the “new kid” and resorted to reading books, magazines, and watching movies as I overcame said isolation periods. This led to a really big reverence for art and creativity as a child, and when I was a teenager, I serendipitously got really into Rookie Magazine.

I loved the amount of agency the artists on there had despite their age, and it got me into making collages of my friends and family in my free time. From that point on, I started obsessively collecting magazines, and my friends and family would donate some to me whenever they could. I had millions of copies of vintage National Geographic, Vogue, old issues of LIFE Magazine, Sassy Magazine from the 90s, Teen Vogue, and more. I also started using more unconventional materials like food packaging, yarn, hair product labels, puzzles, glitter, etc. Through collaging, my surroundings became my art supplies, and it trained my eye to see the art in everything.

Coming from an immigrant background, I never fully had the confidence to pursue art until I was 19 during COVID and after spending so much time using collage as a creative release, I started getting commissions from big clients like The New York Times & partiful here and there. The second lockdown was over and I got back to Los Angeles, I was extremely hyper-focused on learning more about art and how to make things, and conveniently changed my path of study at LMU from Film & TV Production to Studio Arts, where I thankfully had the resources to explore so many mediums.

Since, I’ve had the opportunity to work with the same magazines I chopped up as a kid.

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?
I can’t say it’s been rough, but it certainly hasn’t been linear. I think the hardest part in the journey is maintaining the faith in my own creative intuition, and belief that all the hard work is worth it. The moments I can tangibly see something has paid off, it adds to the fuel I use to keep trusting the vision.

What I can rely on most times is that I’m never going to stop making things for myself, despite if I’m at the peaks or the valleys in my journey.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Professionally, I’m still making collages. It’s become my favorite tool of expression and visual communication throughout the years, and I’m always excited to discover my clients have a similar appreciation. That love for visual culture also manifested in me getting a degree in graphic design, which allows me to explore color, texture, and typography at a more professional level. The two (graphic design and collage) are extremely tied, and are at the center of my practice.

When it comes to creative release, I love experimenting with animation, I love ceramics, I love woodworking, I love printmaking, and I love making zines.

I think what sets us all apart as creatives is our perspective. We all have a unique way of viewing the world and that’s what breathes life into our work, even though we might be tapping into the same mediums. And on that note, my perspective and curiosity is what I’m most proud of, and the thing that makes me the happiest about my work (both professionally and recreationally!)

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Consistency is everything, and don’t get distracted by what’s trendy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tinatona.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teenatona
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tina-tona-r/