Monica Tie
Art Mediums: Alcohol Ink, Sumi Ink, Found Objects, and Mixed Media
Monica (she/they) grew up in San Jose, California with parents who were both software engineers. They followed in their parents’ footsteps and graduated from UCLA with a BS in Computer Science. In 2018, Monica joined Blue Cone Studios and became a regular artist at the Capitol Hill Art Walk. Their work has been exhibited at the Kirkland Arts Center, the Center on Contemporary Art, Vermillion Art Gallery and Cherry Street Center in Carmel, CA.
“Art has allowed me to feel more connected to myself and has provided me a space to explore my identity. I believe there are many artists who feel this way. There are complex subjects, like intergenerational trauma, that I’ve found much easier to express through art than words. My audience can instantly resonate with my work, allowing us to have deep and meaningful conversations.”
“I generally avoid hype. You won’t see me jumping on a crypto or NFT bandwagon (famous last words). What I look towards are our modern day thinkers, be they activists or philosophers. We’re still a very Euro-centric world, and I truly believe future generations of artists will become increasingly multicultural, drawing upon ancient traditions or imagining bright, alternative futures.”
“I’ll never forget the Design and Media Arts class I took in college (I’m a computer science major, arts were definitely off the beaten track for me). The class and the professor taught me that art can challenge you to approach the world differently, to view something differently. He questioned why people admire sculptures afar, rather than jumping, climbing or interacting with them. And certainly, why not?! That feeling has always stuck with me.”
“Materials play a key part in my work. Each material has its own history: how it came to be and who uses it. When incorporating western mediums like alcohol ink, I incorporate traditional Chinese colors like red and gold, or paint an abstract idealized version of nature, an idea borrowed from traditional Chinese landscape paintings. When using sumi ink and rice paper, I’ll take a contemporary approach like collage. These aspects embody how I see myself and are manifestations of being Asian American.”
“Being an Asian American, it’s been easy to feel “not Asian enough” and “not American enough.” When I first considered pursuing art, I was fortunate to get a chance to chat with Monyee Chau about this. They said that we are our own thing, “Asian Americans.” I’ve been inspired ever since to create art focused on expanding that identity and space because it is deeply rich and nuanced in itself.”
Tranquility: “I wanted to create something I’d never seen before: code in a feminine and nature-inspired context, a layered collage applied on an otherwise traditional Chinese painting. There are countless Asian software engineers contributing to tech globally, yet we’re often overlooked or erased from modern history. In this painting, I wanted to dream of a future we could aspire to: one where code can be feminine, software is accessible, and the artificial and natural can coexist in balance. All commit checksums used in this painting refer to code I authored.”
Meandering Paths:
“I started my software career writing code for a social network platform. I would never have guessed that years later the site would enable me to learn Chinese brush painting while in the mountains of Colorado. The minified JavaScript in the background of the painting is code from Ning.com, a Silicon Valley unicorn hopeful that faded from prominence. Despite the site’s drop in popularity, it enabled me grow closer to my heritage.”