Kim Thai Nguyen: Meet the Artist
Hi! My name is Kim Thai Nguyen and I am an illustrator and artist, born and raised in West Michigan. My work is primarily digital, which I love because I can easily experiment with bright colors (and it's also easier on my wallet). When I’m not drawing or designing for others, I’m creating zines, selling my merch (art prints, enamel pins, shirts, etc.), and playing around with ink and paint.
Q: How did you get involved with Lions and Rabbits?
A: I had the privilege of befriending the founder/extraordinaire, Hannah Berry, during college and in 2019 when L&R organized the Rad Women A-Z Public Art Initiative, Hannah invited me to participate. I had the honor of painting “H is for Hazel Scott,” as my first ever mural. I also did all the illustrations for the After Dark board game in 2020!
Q: What themes/ideas are highlighted in your work? Intentions?
A: My personal work is usually informed by whatever it is I’m feeling and consuming at the moment, whether that’s grappling with anxiety, excitement over music and film, or craving food. Over the past few years, a reoccurring theme has been identity exploration and sharing parts of my experience as a child of Vietnamese immigrants.
Q: Run us through your creative process - How do you start, flow and finish?
A: For hired work, my process is straight forward: research the topic, gather inspiration and reference images, brainstorm and sketch, and collaborate with the client until the final illustration is completed. For personal work, if I don’t already have a subject in mind, my process can be a bit more sporadic. I spend a lot of time on the internet, and whenever I see a photo that makes me go “ooh! I wanna draw that!” I’ll save it to a folder to potentially pull inspiration from. So sometimes my process is to choose one of these photos—which may be of a person’s outfit or pose, ceramic tiles in a bathroom, or a flaky croissant, etc.—and then just draw whatever comes to mind. Other times I’ll decide what colors I want to use first and then flow from there…which is pretty backwards but somehow has worked.
Q: What obstacles/struggles have you encountered throughout your career as an artist? Or challenges you face through your creative process
A: By far my biggest obstacle is my low self-confidence. Some days I feel like I should just give up on art because I’m not as skilled or accomplished as some people almost half my age. I’ll procrastinate on personal projects and goals because of this. I have to constantly remind myself that everyone’s journey is different but valid and it’s never too late for me to find success, whatever that means. And even if my current aspirations never come to fruition, that should be okay too!
Q: Can you share a little more about how your art career started. Have you always been in your field? Were you self taught or had additional schooling?
A: I knew since I was like five years old that I wanted to be an artist “when I grow up.” My first foray into digital art though was around fourth grade when I started drawing in MS Paint. In middle school I began teaching myself Photoshop and in high school I became interested in graphic design, so originally I attended a university and a community college with that career in mind. Eventually I transferred to KCAD and the admissions officer convinced me to pursue Illustration instead, so I tried that for a semester, then switched majors for a final time to graduate with a BFA in Digital Media. Since then I’ve worked a few random jobs to pay the bills and currently I’m a designer during the day and illustrator the rest of the time.
Q: Who/what are your biggest inspirations that play a key role in the work you produce?
A: I’m not sure there is anyone/thing that plays a key role in my work, my inspiration usually comes from whatever I’m interested in at that moment. However, what motivates me to even create in the first place is definitely my friends and the many amazing artists I follow.
RAD Women A-Z 2019
Q: Is there anything you wish you could change about your work?
A: Once in a while I’ll wish I could keep focus on one art style and medium so that I can max out that skill tree… but where’s the fun in that? More often I wish I could do EVERY kind of art! photography, 3d modeling, animation/motion graphics, oil painting, sculpting, printmaking, jewelry crafting, EVERYTHING
Q: What mistakes have you made? What did you learn from them? What are you trying to get better at?
A: I made a lot of mistakes when I was younger, from getting my art stolen, drawing at the wrong size, to underselling myself. Most recently I accidentally used the wrong type of QR code in a printed art project and literally had to pay for my mistake, haha. It took many years but I’ve finally learned to say no to projects I don’t want to do! I’m trying to get better at not being so hard on myself…and checking which layer I’m drawing in ;)
Q: Do you feel supported by your community as an artist? In what ways could you feel more supported?
A: I believe the Grand Rapids community is mostly welcoming and supportive, and there’s lots of opportunities for artists to show their work here, such as pop-up events at small businesses or through spaces like L&R and the DAAC—especially if you are a painter or a maker! I suppose I would love to see more opportunities for digital artists, illustrators, designers, comic artists, animators, etc. to come together.
Q: Describe a moment when you felt most proud of yourself
A: Whenever I finish work that I was particularly struggling with or stressing over, I’m flooded with relief and pride because I didn’t give up. Usually these are projects where I doubt I’ll be able to finish due to tight deadlines or an overwhelming amount of work.
Q: What's most important to you about what you create, and how it impacts others?
A: The most important thing to me is expressing and staying true to myself. Most of the time I aim to bring joy but sometime’s it’s sharing sadness and insecurity because that’s real too. Above all else I love connecting with others through art and I am so incredibly grateful when people tell me how they relate to my art or story.
Q: What's next? What are you currently focusing on or looking forward to?
A: I have a few projects I’m currently working on and an endless goals/to-do list but I’m also currently focusing on letting myself take time to rest.
Q: What does being an artist mean to you? What is the function of artists in society?
A: Artists help us social animals to communicate with one another. Artists have the power to educate, influence, entertain, provoke thoughts, and evoke emotions. I cannot imagine a world without art!
Q: And of course, if you could chose any vehicle to travel, real or imaginary what would it be?
A: I would like to travel by a shapeshifting animal, like the Catbus in the movie My Neighbor Totoro!
Follow more of Kim’s work on www.thaikim.com and instagram.com/thaikim
Thank you for tuning into this week’s Meet the Artist, be sure to checkout more artist stories every week on our blog!
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