Jagua Artist Cyann on Their Journey as an Independent Artist & Supporting Local Creatives
Cyann (she/they) talks about her journey as an independent artist and creating opportunities for other artists in Singapore.
I understand you’re a multidisciplinary artist. How did you decide on jagua as the medium for your artistic practice? What about the medium speaks to you?
I enjoy making art across a variety of mediums and it’s something that I’ve done for most of my life. I’ve done and still do design work (mainly graphic, fashion and textile), oil painting, watercolour painting, and any painting or drawing work that people or businesses commission me to do.
However, the biggest difference between being a jagua artist and all of the other things I do is that jagua allows me to meet each client face-to-face and understand them on a personal level. The fulfilment from that is unparalleled. I love listening to my clients’ stories and learning what is important to them (which is often reflected in the art) – these things make jagua sessions so much more intimate and meaningful.
To me, jagua is the perfect medium for these lovely interactions and connections to manifest.
What does creativity mean to you now? What are your biggest sources of inspiration?
Creativity, to me, is the strong urge to create something to solve problems, make better solutions, or simply add value to someone's life.
I practice creativity by reflecting my clients’ dreams, aspirations and stories visually. It can also come in other non-tangible ways, like meeting another creative, and asking myself – "How can our work come together to create something new, something cool? How can we collaborate to help each other and bring value to our shared community?"
I’m greatly inspired by the works and artistic processes of dead and famous artists. My favourites are mainly Marcel Duchamp, Rene Magritte, and Salvador Dali. While none of them are tattoo artists and their work may differ greatly from mine (in a visual sense), the thought processes and concepts behind their work are what inspire me the most. Even if these influences may not be present in all of the work that I do – since jagua on clients can be a very personal thing and I do prioritise doing work that my client can resonate with – they are usually what drives my art when I'm given complete freedom.
What excites you most about being an independent artist and what struggles have you had to overcome?
Since moving into my new studio at Pearl’s Hill Terrace, I’ve met many other artists and creatives across many disciplines. I think what I’m most excited about right now are the endless possibilities to collaborate and create art with other like-minded folks. It’s a magical experience getting to wake up every day, brain buzzing with ideas and fired up to do work that I’m excited about doing. It’s also amazing that the community here is so supportive and we’re all here to uplift one another and the local arts scene. Even with multiple collaborations in the pipeline, I still have so much I want to do, but there’s just so little time!
Being an art history nerd, something I’m also looking forward to doing is using my platform to educate others about art history; important artists that influenced art to become what it is today, and help the general public and artists alike to learn to appreciate art from a different angle (not just visually or being drawn to pretty art).
It can be very scary to be an artist in a pandemic. Being a jagua artist is very different from say, a painter or illustrator, in the sense that my canvas is someone's body. And while clients get jagua tattoos for a variety of reasons, most people, upon getting a beautiful tattoo, would want to show it off to their friends.
At the height of Covid-19, volatile restrictions dwindled the demand for jagua tattoos, as clients found less of a reason to get body art. Also, doing jagua means I have to take appointments with clients and need a space for that. Some people may have the privilege of having a beautiful home and a supportive family that allows them to convert their bedroom or living room into a studio. But I live in a very lived-in flat with my grandma, and taking appointments at home would mean I am putting her at heightened risk of exposure to Covid-19. She's quite fearful of people coming to our house, even my close friends. So I needed to get a private studio, incurring a huge fixed business cost.
When I first did that, I was very, very scared because I worried about no one coming. But luckily I had a community of about 400 of my past clients at the time, and they really showed up for me when things weren't so stable yet.
You’ve recently moved into your own creative studio space, A Tiny Dream Studio, at Pearl’s Hill Terrace alongside photographer Ian Mun. How do both of your creative processes come together?
Here’s a crazy story – Ian was actually a client of mine. We first met during his jagua tattoo appointment with me! Shortly after, I was looking to open my studio and asked on Instagram Story to see if anyone wanted to share a space together. Ian replied to it, so by the second time we met, we were going around Singapore doing viewings for the studio. So we didn’t really know each other that well when it all started, but the energy was great and I somehow feel like all of this was meant to be.
Being a photographer with a background in architecture and interior design, Ian’s strength lies in visuals and spaces. For myself, I actually went to business school with a specialisation in marketing, so business development and content creation are very up-my-alley. Ian’s also not a big social media user so I handle most of that for A Tiny Dream, while he supplies us with his magic from behind the camera. It’s a very effective pairing and it’s been working really well for the studio so far.
Sitting across the table from each other for hours every day also has been very helpful for both of our solo work. We throw ideas at each other, and share opinions, advice, tips, and resources; all of that helps us hone our individual crafts.
It has also been very helpful to have sort of an in-house photographer for the space, and we actually have a package deal for clients who want to get jagua and portraits done, so their tattoos can last longer than 2 to 3 weeks, in a beautiful photograph!
Tell us more about why you chose to use A Tiny Dream Studio as a studio and a co-retail space.
When I first decided to open a studio, I did not initially intend to use it as a co-retail space as well. I just needed a space to take my appointments and get my work done. However, I realised how incredibly privileged I was to have reached a point in my artistic career where my work was sustainable enough to pay off rent every month – something I would only have dreamed of having, just years earlier in my career.
When I was a young budding artist, opportunities to show and sell my work in physical spaces were scarce – multi-label retail spaces charged very high commissions that it was impossible to make a decent profit from my art, and renting a commercial space or pop-up shop was too expensive and too high of a risk to take. I wanted to help other budding artists who are still in this uncertain period of their business, so I decided to use a small section of the studio to feature and sell the works of other local creatives.
We also have a monthly event/production at A Tiny Dream, called Tiny Jams. Inspired by NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, we invite local musicians to play at the studio and we get it professionally filmed to share their talent with our community. I hope that this initiative will also help locals get exposed to and learn to appreciate the local music scene! In the first Tiny Jams session, we had singer-songwriters Umar Sirhan, Hasyir Ibrahim and Tiara Maimun.
What are some of your exciting projects that we can look forward to seeing?
Some exciting things you can expect to see around the corner include the launch of physical merchandise, limited edition fine art pieces, as well as cross-medium collaborations. I’m not gonna say too much right now and spoil it for y’all, but I’m thrilled to reveal these things down the line, stay tuned!
