Meet Your Resident Artist! (And Her Misfortune With Technology)

Hello, I am Lam Cui Xi in real life, but when I walk around in the art world, I go by the tag lacuix. Don't ask, it's a thing. Anyway, since you're here, I am assuming that you want to know more about who I am and what my art journey is like. So, I'm going to also boldly assume that you would continue reading my blog post(s) that may or may not get increasingly wordy.

First of all, let me explain why this blog exists. My Instagram account has recently crashed on me and I figured I need more space to type anyway. That would be the short story. The long story goes back to over a year ago. That was in 2019 and my phone crashed on me (as you can see, technology and I don't really get along very well) and I lost many irrecoverable images of my art, including those of an art project I was currently working on at that time. It was such a painful experience and it forced me to figure out where else I can store my digital files. Yours truly was then persuaded to start an Instagram account just for my art work (I never had Instagram before this, because, well, Luddite :') so instead of learning my lesson and backing up my phone more often, I went ahead and started an Instagram account under the name @lacuixart . There I was, naively going, "Ah yes, a digital copy and online portfolio that will never fail me again!" and boy was I wrong. Obviously. Maybe I just really have bad luck with technology, or maybe I really did do something wrong, either way, a little over a week ago, when I attempted to open Instagram, I was alerted that my account has been disabled for violating the terms and conditions. Honestly, until now, I don't think (?) I did anything wrong, and I appealed multiple times, but the account is still stuck on disabled. Chances are, Instagram is reallyyyy busy and will probably never get around to helping me revive my online portfolio, which means, I need a Plan B. Aka, I need to actually start updating this website of mine again. At this point, I'm really just waiting for everything to crash on me. At the same time.

Anyway, let not this be a big long complaint against technology and my misfortune, so let's move on as to what I'm actually doing this for. And who in the actual blazes am I? Well, today, on 14/1/2021, I am a Singaporean JC student, juggling homework and my own art. I and building up a portfolio of work because I intend to apply for art school at the end of the year. Why I chose this path is going to be another long long story, so let's leave that for another post ok. Before my Instagram crashed, I realised there was a word limit on each post and I was not happy about that. I'm assuming there is no limit here since it's supposed to be a blog? But who knows?

I paint, I sketch, I draw (in class, yes I am a bad example, I'm still sorry for coming across as rude to my teachers, but I do process better when I'm drawing!) and that makes me an artist. Of course, I used to think, artists only do art. They live and breathe art. Art is their whole life and if they are not willing to die for art, they are not true artists. And when I occasionally come across people like that, I feel so... inferior to them, you know? Yes, I like art, but I honestly can't say it's my greatest love in life. No, if I were to be honest with myself, words are my whole life. I can imagine a life without ever drawing again, but I cannot imagine a life without reading or writing again. So, yes, on the side lines, I am also a Literature student, a reader and a writer, which may explain my long-windedness.

I love art theories and techniques. I love losing myself in fictional worlds and lines of poetry. And that's fine. I can be both. No one artist only ever just live and breathe art (or at least none that I've ever come across). Every person has multiple facets and compartments in life, as I like to think of it. I have only just come to realisation that it's ok for me to be an artist whose whole life isn't art. So this is me, your resident artist-writer. I draw and I write, but mostly, both are just ways for me to express myself in this big, complicated, beautiful world. Look forward to some more stories of my art journey, art tips I've come across or figured out as I went along and also maybe some poetry if I feel like it, because hey, sometimes, you just got to follow your heart and do what feels right. Keep dreaming guys!

Love, Cuix