About me, art and challenging social standards
In this day and age of rapid, fast media consumption, starting a blog seemed a little counter intuitive and archaic as a means to connect with my audience. But throughout my creative journey as an illustrator on social media, I’ve always felt a little stifled in my ability to fully share and connect with my community on topics that are meaningful to me. Here, I feel better able to connect with you, away from a space where longer and carefully worded rambles are not all that welcome (there’s only so much I can say on an Instagram story!) My mind is always buzzing with ways to be more creative, to make life more meaningful by tackling social constructs, and to just be. I appreciate you being here with me, and in this age of quick swipes and short-form content, I hope my blog inspires you to slow down and journey with me as I navigate living mindfully in a big, terrifying world.
The photo above is my studio space where most of the magic for luneggu happens, and where I spend a lot of my time. I properly started my art journey as luneggu around March this year after graduating from a diploma where I studied concept illustration. At the time, I had aspired to be a concept artist in the gaming and film industry, and I was training for a year in highly rendered, intricate art styles. After finishing that course, I promptly decided that the concept art industry was not for me. Now, as I pursue an art journey far removed from the one I was in a year before, I am filled with both a sense of pride and uncertainty. Proud of myself because of the genuine happiness I’ve found in my art style and growth, uncertain because I wonder if I had wasted a year of studying only to find myself in a completely different area of interest.
This seems to always be quite the running theme in my life journey. Art wasn’t always the obvious passion for me, and before I was studying concept illustration I had actually decided to graduate from my university as a Sociology undergraduate a year earlier because I wanted to chase my passion for the creative world. It was one of the most intense and riskiest decision in my life, especially in the rat-race that is Singapore. Veering off course as a uni graduate into an industry notoriously known for being under-paid and under-appreciated felt like jumping into a socio-economic pit hole.
Now, almost a year in, my trajectory as a passionate creative and unwilling player in a capitalist society, I still do not have answers about whether the risks I took paid off. However, while the road I deliberately chose seems fraught with terror and doubt, I do know that the constant I can hold onto is my hope that someday what I do creates a meaningful impact into inspiring others to put themselves first in a society that devalues whatever it means to be intrinsically human.
Some examples of work that I did as a concept art student a year ago! They’re very different from what I do now, but are a part of me that I hold onto really dearly as it was one of the most technically challenging periods of my art journey. Sometimes I still wonder if I’m able to render and paint like this.. I might try again when time allows!
My most important takeaway from my journey both as a human and creative thus far is that life simply does not need to be linear. We owe it to ourselves to understand that there is a difference between what we truly want to be and what we think we should be. In my case, it meant going backwards, forwards, sideways to truly learn and grow into where I am right now. We can’t always make the right decisions in life, but that’s because there shouldn’t be a right way to live this life of ours.
It’s definitely not easy going against the current, sometimes I feel like I might get swept away by the overwhelming pressure of it all. It takes an active and conscious effort to allow yourself to go anywhere but ahead in a world that prioritises more. More money, more productivity, more assets, more power, and while there’s nothing wrong with any of these things - I believe that it would serve us much more to find a balance in all things that brings us joy.
I hope that whoever you are, and wherever you are in your life trajectory, career, and explorations, that my own little rollercoaster of a life helps you find some solidarity and assurance that its okay to be authentically yourself, even if that means challenging the current a little (-:
All my love and support,
Luna
