Margaret Tsai - Interview With an Artist vol. 7 | #72

On her journey as a fashion designer and creator

Jun 16

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Margaret Tsai, Distressed Beyond Reparations, 2021

Margaret Tsai is a 17-year-old designer and creator currently living in Taiwan. She is going to be a senior (12th grade) in the fall at an international school and she plans on majoring in apparel design with a focus in textiles and technology in college. When she is not busy with school-related activities, such as being the Editor-in-Chief of her school’s Yearbook, she can be found formulating and sketching ideas in her many notebooks.

Tell us a bit about your background.

When I was a child, my family moved from San Francisco Bay Area to Taiwan. At the age of 4, I found myself in a place that left me incapable of fully expressing myself with words as I had not mastered Mandarin at the time.

A new door of expression was opened through enrollment in an art program where words played a smaller role than the ability to express through creativity. This period was the beginning of understanding the culture of my family and also the conversation between the world around me and the way I understood it.

From those early years, art became a contemplative practice that cultivated an awareness of the world around me. Art and design allowed me to be authentic. Over the years, I have moved from the staid world of shading and still life to using textiles to express my surroundings.

I have used art and design to articulate the difference between the process, in which the goal is to express an idea of the mind and the product in a simple way. Although both of these are important to me, I use art to reframe the focus from something static in the past to something tactile and technological for the future.

What is the creative process behind your fashion design collection?

I think that the creative process really differs from creator to creator, but for me, it is not something linear. Instead, I think that the creative process is a web of ideas that build off of other ideas. My fashion design collection was created for AP 3D Art and Design. I was inspired by both the culture surrounding me and the innovations of those around me.

By taking risks and playing with tradition, I have gone outside of my own cultural comfort zone, and I think this is the key. For art to be truly transformative, we need to reach beyond ourselves. Art plays a vital role in cultivating power of imagination that is essential to social participation and beyond the boundaries of language. I want my art to be more than just a representation of myself but also a way to express myself in unity with the larger community. Through the melding and combining of traditional shapes and textiles with technology, I am able to express something that is greater than myself.

Where do you usually find inspiration?

I am inspired by my past, present and future. The past includes all the cultures, people, stories, and ideas that have come before me. In the case of my most recent collection, it is the past of traditional Chinese artisans, craftsmanship, mythologies, and history. The present is me and where I currently stand. It is me and my multifaceted identity. It is me and all the people I know. I think both the past and the present are relatively simpler when it comes to finding inspiration, but it is the future that excites me.

Name 3 of your favourite artists. Why?

I don’t have 3 particular artists that I would choose to be my favorites. Instead, I think art and beauty are found everywhere, not just from artists. If we cannot appreciate the multitude of colours in nature, how can we even begin to appreciate them in paintings? If we cannot see beyond the physical beauty in people, how can we begin to see the beauty in a famous piece of art like the Mona Lisa?

As you have experience in mixed media art and fashion design, which one do you like more? Why?

Honestly, it is not fashion design or mixed media art that I like. Obviously, I like both but more than just it being “design” or “art”. What I really like is the process of creating. I love it when I get a new idea and scramble to write it down in the many journals and sketchbooks that I have. That is what excites me the most.

The foundation of art for me was not just early experiences because over time these foundations have been built upon each other and allowed me to establish my signature. For me, all of my art is a conversation between myself and my surroundings, whatever form that might takes creatively.

Apart from art and design, what do you do in your spare time that fuels your creativity?

Apart from art and design, something that fuels me creatively is hearing other stories from creatives or advocates. That is why I started 12 Point Font, an online blog, community, and book club that works to share the stories of young people from every corner of the world.

I also enjoy making short films. For a while, I actually thought about majoring in film, although I have since decided that it is better as a hobby. I constantly have thoughts running through my head and journaling really helps me think through my ideas and musings. Sometimes, I will turn those journal entries into short films or poems. In fact, I am currently working on a short film with a friend of mine.

Where can people find you and your work?

My work can be found on Instagram @margaret.tsai. If anyone wants to chat about anything creative (or not creative!), my DMs are always open. I also have a YouTube channel, Margaret, where I will start posting some of my short films (most things on there right now are just for various school activities). Last but not least, I would love it if you could check out 12 Point Font and hear more stories from young people just like me.