Meet CC Tsai | Photographer & Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with CC Tsai and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi CC, what do you think makes you most happy? Why?
There are many things that could be considered as my source of happiness, but if there’s one that’s my biggest source it would be my creative process; to me, the process of creating new works is very satisfying and therapeutic. Being inspired, figuring out the right medium, overcoming an obstacle and whatnot, these are all very exciting in my opinion. To me, the creative process as a whole is very meditative, and it is probably the only time I could focus on one thing and one thing only, and would not think about anything that’s stressful.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve always love art as a kid, and as I grow older, towards the end of middle school I’ve decided I want to become an artist. Thought I have my focus on photography right now in college, but I also do paintings, digital art, sculpture and all kinds of mediums. To me, the hardest and most challenging part of being an artist is staying interesting and motivated. In order for an artist to stay interesting, they have to constantly be creating works, or sometimes even force themselves to work; in order to be creating new things all the time, one has to read and see as much as possible to always “have things to say.” My tip to staying interesting and create as much as possible to is to base my creations on my own stories; I would choose one thing that has significance to me, do researches on it, then turn it into an art piece or a project. Currently I’m working on my thesis project, which is about dreams. As an artist who not only dreams every single night but can also remember details from the dreams quite well, and being able to lucid dream, I often wonder if people’s creativity becomes particularly active when they are asleep, and how do dreams and dreaming affect artists’ creations. With this project I planned to drown myself with books, artworks, movies and whatnot, see how those information collectively transform into ideas in my dreams, then finally bring them into reality with modern technologies. Being inspired by artists such as Odilon Redon and Salvador Dali, as well as knowing dreams are just fragments of memories that our neurons and brain see relatable, I chose to use softwares such as Blender as my main medium, by using them I aim to create an immersive visualization of what the combinations of memory fragments my brain saw as related look like.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Though I’m currently based in New York City, I don’t think I’d be the best guid for NYC, however, I do know Taiwan pretty well. If you’re ever have a week to visit Taiwan, you should definitely spend half of the time in the north, and half in the south. I wouldn’t say there’s any specific restaurant or tourist attraction one must go if they’re in Taiwan, but I do think everyone should go to at least one night market, try out at least one seafood-stir-fried restaurant, and drink at least a cup of bubble tea. I would say Tainan, Taipei and Pingtung would be the top three cities to visit in Taiwan. Tainan is the old capital of Taiwan, so you’d be able to visit a tons of historical attractions there, also, it is arguably the city with the best local food. On the other hand, Taipei is the capital of Taiwan and is also where someone can experience the best nigh life in Taiwan. Lastly, Pingtung is where a lot of people would go during summer for its beautiful beaches.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Daniel Castelaz, an American artist, collector, editor, writer and educator currently based in Taiwan, was my art teacher back in high school, and thought we never said it out loud, I consider him as my mentor. From the way he runs a class to the way he gives responses to people’s works, you could tell how much he cares about his students. In my opinion he’s the kind of people that could push you to your full potential without giving too much pressures.

Website: elisecctsai.com

Instagram: @elisecctsai

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elise-cc-tsai-434073222/