Rising Stars: Meet Alice Zhai of New York City

 

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alice Zhai

Hi Alice, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I feel like I’ve always been kind of artistic ever since I was little. I vividly remember drawing on MS Paint on my grandpa’s computer when I was 6 or so, back when computers were big and chunky, and I remember the story my grandma told me about how I won an award in kindergarten for making the best parade float, but I never seriously considered pursuing a career in art until senior year of high school. I remember when it came time to pick our majors and our respective schools, the idea of going to art school just seemed like the most natural option to me. There really wasn’t anything else I was interested in, and art had always been a constant activity in my life, (which is actually pretty impressive looking back, seeing as how I have ADHD and consistency was always something that I struggled with) so off to art school I went. I initially went to Pratt, but I decided to transfer to SVA halfway through my program because I realized that I wanted to draw more. I wasn’t really happy at Pratt, partially because I developed a pretty negative relationship with my artistic practice out of a mixture of fear, shame, and anxiety of falling behind my classmates since I felt like I lacked the discipline and skill as an artist due to my super casual attitude towards art early on in my life, and also because I found that I really wanted a program that would allow me to draw more. So with that, I made the decision to transfer to SVA in the middle of the pandemic. I think it was at SVA that I started to grow to really really love drawing for the first time in my life. I’ve always felt guilty when I heard other artists talk about how as an artist you had to live and breathe art if you wanted to make it a career because I never really felt this intense passion for art but I think that was something that started to blossom in my time at SVA. I think through a combination of having some of the most encouraging and patient teachers I’ve ever experienced that allowed me to be curious about random things, a lot of therapy (lol), and having a warm community of friends and peers, I was able to mend my relationship with my art and also become more curious and brave about experimenting with different ways of working and different mediums. And I think at the beginning of my senior year, and also throughout the 3 years I was at SVA, I’ve slowly come to realize the importance of having a process of working that worked for you, which was what I came to find out in my last year. Although I’ve grown to enjoy creating art again, at some point in the summer between my junior and senior year, I started to feel burnt out from constantly being on my ipad, but I was too scared to make the jump to working traditionally out of fear that I wouldn’t be able to draw as well traditionally. But I think eventually, also with the encouragement of my professors, I realized that it would be more beneficial to try it out and fail miserably than to stick to working in a way that brings me no joy. And thankfully it turned out that the switch from procreate to inking traditionally was not only a lot less stressful than I thought, but it also brought a sense of liveliness to my drawings that I really enjoyed and it allowed me to really get into the zone as there’s just something addicting about creating with tangible materials where every mark you make is permanent and unchanging.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think my road to falling in love with art was definitely a bumpy one. It was plagued with a lot of guilt, shame and anxiety because I constantly compared myself to other artists in the beginning, and because I had undiagnosed ADHD which made focusing on things extremely difficult. I also had a hard time discovering a work process that worked for me because I tend to overthink things a lot. And because of my anxiety and fear of feeling like I’m not good enough, it also prevented me from freely experimenting with different mediums and ways of working, which also made it a lot harder for me to find a process that I would enjoy. I feel like although it was a really bumpy road to get to where I am today, I think I learned a lot about myself and how I operate as a person and an artist.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m an Illustrator and I recently graduated from SVA. Most of my work are traditionally inked on textured paper with a combination of nibs and brushes and then scanned and colored digitally. I love creating delicate lines in my drawings, I’ve actually always been drawn to art that were linework heavy so it naturally made its way into the way I draw. I think what sets me apart is the subject matter of my pieces. Most of my work are centered around mental health, because it is a topic that is very important to me, and I’ve always loved injecting a bit of surrealism into my work because I’ve always really liked finding hidden meaning and symbolisms rather than obviously stating the message. I’ve also always been fond of things that were a bit more on the dark and mcabre side of things as I find it really interesting since it’s something that I think a lot of people tend to shy away from. I think the thing I am most proud of currently is this 9 layer silkscreen piece I made for one of my thesis. I took a silkscreen class this year based on one of my teacher’s recommendation and creating that piece was one of the most physically taxing activity I’ve ever done, but I think it came out really nice and I really like it!

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I think if you’re currently in school, establishing a good relationship with your professors are very very important. An easy way that I found to start is to ask them questions about anything you’re curious about. Also, if they allow it, always email them outside of class for extra feedback on your work, or go to office hours if that’s a thing. I found that in a lot of the classes that I did really well in/have formed strong connections with my professors in, it was always because I emailed them outside of class to ask for extra feedback on my work, and also because I was always curious and asked a lot of questions in class. I think in order to establish a good relationship with a teacher, you have to give them material to work with so they can get to know you better. I think in terms of networking, never be afraid to reach out. Atleast for the illustration industry, I find that everyone I’ve met so far are really really nice so I think it’s totally okay if you want to email someone because you have a question or is curious of their work. It never hurts to send an email, and if they don’t reply, it’s probably because they’re busy and that’s okay. I also think it’s helpful to think of networking events more as you’re just talking to people rather than this super official thing. I find that for me, I do better when I go into an event with just the intention of “oh, I’m going to just meet new people” rather than I have to be making some serious career moves or something like that. Also, I definitely do think networking gets easier and easier the more you do it. I consider myself a pretty introverted person and the first big networking event I went to, I was absolutely terrified, but after going to a couple of them, it’s gotten noticeably more relaxing since the more you go to these things the more people you know and then it becomes more of a “omg i’m here to just see my friends and catch up with people” type of situation. And I think it’s beneficial to always send a follow up email after meeting new people just to say it was nice meeting you to establish more of a connection!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alicezhai.com
• Instagram: taxidermymouse_