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Being a professional artist really wasn’t an option growing up. Born and raised in Dallas by an Asian immigrant family, there had always been cultural, societal, and education expectations that needed to be met. I’ve have been taught values of structure, loyalty, hard work and dedication; to where art and any creative expression were more of a hobby than any a passion to pursue. So, I became what I thought I was supposed to be… a corporate technologist.
I felt that I “successfully” grew up in the corporate chain of command from an a job as an analyst to a programmer to a manager to a leader of people across large Fortune 500 companies to progressive startups. With a vast level of experience in technology, industries, and leadership I thought I had I already achieved what a definition of “success” looks like. To others it was, but there was an emptiness, anxiety, depression, stress and the feeling of lost with the constant daily grind of others’ expectations, I was in desperately in need of a creative outlet.
I started emotionally painting, taking creative art classes, using all types of mediums to figure out who I am or trying to be to balance the logical side of tech I’ve learnt to the visual desire of art. Four years later in struggling with my left brain and right brain identity, I’m on the journey of my dreams of becoming a Tape Artist, Designer, Technologist, Entrepreneur and Advisor.
My Inspiration
Hi! I’m Tina Ngo, a Tape Artist, leveraging small pieces of pinstriping tape to create dominating lines in my art. I typically get asked two questions: “What kind of tape?”, it’s actually tape that’s used on custom cars for detailing and “Why tape?”, taping to create my own lines helps define boundaries and balances structure with chaotic expression.
Why ‘color within the lines’ when you can create them? For me, each line represents the constant decisions, some permanent, some adjustable, that ultimately forms the building blocks to a bigger picture. Looking closely, you can see the details; but the further you take a step back, the clarity the picture to take a more objective perspective.
I’m not only a visual artist, I’m also an interior designer for both commercial and residential, and a digital designer in both web and social media where I find that there’s art and creativity in space planning and technology. For the first time ever, I finally have found the balance of bridging art with technology. Turning more than an appreciation of the craft of visual arts into enabling growth of others by allowing artists to build a digital presence and creating visibility of local artists into commercial and residential spaces.
Through experience of my own, I believe that empowerment of the artists is key to illuminate and to educate the importance of creative expression. I am proud to be helping to drive a culture of continuous creative learning, collaboration, leadership, network, and artist engagement with the local community.
I now say to those interested in the arts, “Let’s create our own lines.”