An Interview With Tae Querney
Interview by: Fawn Fruits
ABC: Tell us a little bit about what you do.
TQ: Well, I am a trained illustrator. It’s a commercial art, and some people don’t even consider it ‘art’. But I think many illustrators are breaking that gap and stepping into a place where that line of fine art and illustration is really blurring. In my ‘illustrations’ I try to really find connection with a subject matter that I personally care about. For example, I had an assignment where I were to illustrate my ‘childhood ambition’. I grew up on anime as a girl, so I decided to illustrate about that. Then I thought about how it impacted me. I thought about myself and idea of beauty. Consequently, the article about a Chinese girl who got surgeries to look like Jessica Alba to get her boyfriend back.. with those references, I created my Xiaoqing piece, which a few people emailed me and said it brought awareness to them. I think everyone does their best work when they care about the subject matter.
I think that way my illustrations are fine art too- it communicates an idea that is personal to the artist.
ABC: What was the worst critique/review/feedback you were ever given and how did it make you feel?
TQ: Yikes, I have too many! Well, In my sketchbook class in junior year, a teacher said to me, “you MIGHT make it…” all I heard was ‘might’. This statement was a question of ‘is the glass half full or half empty?’ At that time, I lacked the confidence of whether I will make it in this profession, so since then, that comment always repeats in my head for some reason. I either get paranoid about not making it, or be assured that I will.
ABC: How did that experience change or not change the way you feel/felt about your art?
TQ: I really tried pushing myself harder. Most of my time in school, I devoted myself to just improving my technical skills. Honestly, I signed up for illustration without really even know what it is. Completely blind of what it was, I threw myself in just because I wanted to draw and paint. I created illustrations not really caring about whether I liked the piece or not, I thought of it as training exercise. So I wasn’t really attached my any of the work I created then. But my glorified entries from the sketchbook class- in that class we had to create an image from our head without reference, so I got to think more beyond technicality. In the end that sketchbook really reflected my Senior portfolio a year later.
ABC: What did you do about it?
TQ: Since my focus was to grow in technical part of illustration, I set my sketchbook aside. But In the beginning of Senior Portfolio, I constantly referenced and went back to painting in the sketchbook to explore my motifs and repetition of certain elements. I think I learn a lot about myself through that process and apply it to my current illustrations.
ABC: Where do you get the inspirations of your illustrations?
TQ: Well, I look at a lot of fashion photography. I have a folder called “inspiration” where I print and save all the images that I like. Right now there are a lot of Matsui Fuyuko and Vania Zouravliov’s work. Each image always seem to find a place in my work. Currently I am collecting images of Delia Robbia.
ABC: You’re graduating pretty soon, what are you plans after college?
TQ: I took my weekend break, and considered that my summer vacation. It’s a Sundaynight, and got back to work. I’m going to continue creating personal illustrations to keep building my portfolio. And of course promoting! As for rent, I’m plan on getting a part time job- to just to get by so that I can keep painting. I am pretty frightened because living in NYC is really expensive. Sort of still freaks me out, so I traded in my graduation present to Paris for couple months of rent instead. My parents did so much throughout my college. I’m sort of their baby girl. I want to assure them I went to art school, but I’m going to be OK. Its going to be tough few years, but I’m up for the challenge.
ABC: Do you feel like you got the best education as an illustrator?
TQ: SVA has the best of retro and contemporary. Teachers like Joo Chung and TomWoodruff comes from place of experience, so they have really deep understanding of the field. I love hearing them talk about the changes and advices on having a longevity in the field. Teachers like Marcos Chin and Chang Park are extremely active in illustration right now so they can be really informative about the trends and business. It has been really great four years. But I’m very greedy, so I always wish I had more-
ABC: What would you like to say to the other underdogs out there?
TQ: One time I worked on my sketches till 5:10am to email them to my teacher. I went to sleep complaining about how its so late. But when I checked the email in the morning, he had written me back at 5:20am. At that moment, I realized that I need to be working harder and later than my teachers if I want to be anywhere near their success.
To see more of Tae’s work go to: taequerney.com
