2/8 — I’m mostly self-taught as an artist and here’s why
PART TWO. A prolific yet invisible artist, The Mollusc Dimension reflects on his perilous journeys to find creativity and mental health in a thought-provoking 8-part picture book/essay, “Flying Across the Forbidden Ocean”.
CONTENT NOTES: brief description of homophobia and mental health difficulties
2 a) I wanted to study Fine Art at Art College. My parents said, I wasn’t allowed to
Access to free education (such as that included in the Labour Manifesto) would have helped me to choose subject I was enthusiastic about studying. The concept of free higher education could feel unnecessary for parents who are able to:
a) Afford to send their children to university
b) Reach an genuine agreement with their children regarding their topic choice
From conversations I have had with people, the following aspects may find it harder for young people to access information about creative pathways and possible funding options for education: disability, immigrant, gender, LGBTQIA+, living in poverty/ on benefits, race, single-parent, working-class and any other groups which face disadvantages in terms of resources and opportunities. (I was affected by 1–4 and 6. I have listed these alphabetically, not in order of priority.)
At the age of 19, I announced that I was in a queer relationship hoping for parental support. Mine responded dramatically, convincing that it wasn’t a real thing, and then continued to suppress any notion of queerness for a further thirteen years. Estranging myself from my family and becoming homeless was never something I had not considered. I chose other destructive behaviours instead. To please my parents, I ended things with my then-partner and accepted parental/financial support — to complete a degree I had shown ability in but wasn’t in love with.
2 b) I didn’t know I could study Music Composition at Music College
I studied music at GCSE and A-level and my favourite element was composition, but no one ever told me that you could study composition at university. The irony is that I have two generations of teachers in my family, with two generations of music teacher, so my family knew from experience that teaching music would be a way of earning a living. However, I was under the impression that if I studied music, the outcome would be that I would be a virtuoso pianist. While my parents had taken me to plenty of piano recitals as a youngster, and perhaps because of this, I was pleased that I had escaped this fate, so I used to joke, “I rebelled against being a musician.”
Yet my great-grandpa on my mum’s side forbade my grandpa and his brother to learn music. They both learnt somehow. My great-uncle was hired as a member of an orchestra, and my grandparents met because my grandma met my grandpa when he played the piano in a restaurant. He’d only been learning a while. I think maybe he was like Satie. He was an outsider although he had artist friends. He won a competition for a jingle for soya milk. There is a clip referring to this anecdote to on my album, “Welcome to The Mollusc Dimension”.
2 c) My mum said I had to study for an English Degree
Does it surprise you that my parents loved books? English (and Western-European Literature), and Chinese literature. My parents, like many other aspired for me to enjoy what they enjoyed. My mum studied English literature translated into Chinese, and also in the original English, by copying out her favourite poems and lines from novels by DH Lawrence. A keen singer, my dad studied the libretto from Italian and German opera and lyrics from German lieder.
I have created over 12 zines, sold and swapped at zine fairs. “How Very Dare You Do Your Own Thing with Gender” is in the Tate Britain Zine library. They range from mostly illustration, to a mixture of comics, text and photos.
The plan is to turn this article into a zine as well!
Next:
3. Art saved my life and keeps me alive — Mental Health Through Creativity
There are 8 parts to this picture book/essay:
- Part 1. Flying Across the Forbidden Ocean — An East-Asian Artist’s fight for health through creativity
- Part 2. I’m mostly self-taught as an artist and here’s why
- Part 3. Art saved my life and keeps me alive — Mental Health Through Creativity
- Part 4. My parents feared that if I was an artist, this would happen..
- Part 5. How would a degree in a creative subject help my child to find work?
- Part 6. Society needs artists, musicians, storytellers and teachers as much as doctors and lawyers
- Part 7. Could “ Tiger Mums” be.. a bit Victorian?
- Part 8. If this is a creative destination, what happens next?
If you enjoyed my work, there are a few ways you could show your support and I would really appreciate it!
