To grow up under really simple circumstances, and to understand that certain things were ornamental... that made an impression on me as a child and is something I use.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
It was important for me to understand who I am and where I came from. To get a hold on why I do certain things.
When I was a child, I wanted to be important.
I was a baby when I began, but I knew exactly what I wanted to wear myself. I became a jewelry designer because I knew how to do something with a pencil and sketch my ideas.
When I was young, I didn't want to do traditional painting and calligraphy. I deliberately wanted to separate from my father so I could feel I existed myself.
My childhood was very, very, very, very traditional.
In my own life, I believe it was an early education in poetical metaphor that helped me to grapple with and make sense of all the difficult and traumatic things that were to come.
My whole purpose of taking on miniature painting was to break the tradition, to experiment with it, to find new ways of making meaning, to question the relevance of it.
When I was growing up, my mother would take me to plays and museums, and we'd talk about life. Those times helped shape who I became.
I had to find my own language in jewelry. That was important to me; it really had to be what I would love to have myself.
Having artist parents, they knew the importance of exposing me and my sister to all types of music and art and making art part of our every day. it was just always there.