CATH WANG
Beyond Illustration: Choreography in Stillness
Portrait courtesy of Catherine Wang.
3rd year Bachelor of Architecture student at UC Berkeley with a minor in Environmental Design and Urbanism in Developing Countries
Founder of NOMAS at UC Berkeley
Catherine is an aspiring architect with a fascination for many things: the successes and failures of developed countries, the future of the architectural canon and academia, the underrepresentation of minority architects, the systematic racism evolved in architectural education, and many more to come. Her career goals provide the enthusiasm and energy needed to get through the challenging and frustrating environment of university. Her career will involve a background in architecture into a broader scheme to serve local communities with social and environmental sustainability foundation, all held to an ethical and moral standard.
Inspiration
What inspired you to pursue lettering and design? How did you get into it?
My first loves were dance and art, and as a kid I kept them separate as two different activities. My relationship with both were paradoxical; I would work to perfect the craft, which was often a frustrating and taxing process, but I would also confide into the craft as a place of comfort. The more effort I expend to perfect ballet technique or sketching realism, the more detached I become from the craft. The more I seek dance and art for fun and enjoyment, my techniques go completely ignored and even depreciate. For the longest time, I resented dance and art as hobbies because I cared too much about my performance instead of what those hobbies serve for me.
In my junior year of high school, I began scribbling on paper with my eyes closed, removing any aspect of control that I held over the pen. When I open my eyes, I remove my initial reaction of disgust and look for pockets of opportunities. The spontaneous movement of my hand became the infrastructure for the remaining of the illustration, and I’ve been exploring this condition since. I bridged the gap in between my art and dance and embraced my natural instincts in movement and illustration. Lately, my favorite medium is to combine pencil with calligraphy – one is strict and tight, while the other is free-flowing and forgiving.
Catherine Wang, My very first scribble-illustrations in Summer 2018. They were done on a bus when I did an architecture summer program in Chicago, and all I had was a sketchbook, a purple pen, and a mechanical pencil with no eraser. Image courtesy of Catherine Wang.
Catherine Wang, My very first scribble-illustrations in Summer 2018. They were done on a bus when I did an architecture summer program in Chicago, and all I had was a sketchbook, a purple pen, and a mechanical pencil with no eraser. Image courtesy of Catherine Wang.
Catherine Wang, Untitled. Image courtesy of Catherine Wang.
Catherine Wang, Untitled. Image courtesy of Catherine Wang.
Time Management
Wow - your artwork has an astounding attention to detail! - How were you able to maintain your time especially as a student studying architecture?
I don’t…. I spend the most time drawing during breaks or late at night, but lately the time gap in between my drawings is increasing more and more. But I draw every day, just not necessarily on a good piece of paper or with a good amount of care. During studio, I would sketch my classmates on Zoom (I swear it’s not as creepy as it sounds) and surround the sketch with ink.
When I would draw during the school semester, it is often a result of procrastination or burnout. Unfortunately, a lot of architecture programs in university still adhere to the outdated standard of where students must overachieve and sacrifice their physical health (sleeping, eating, etc.) to achieve good work; there is still the notion where students pay a tuition to be mentored or suppressed by staff. This is more apparent during Zoom University, where I see studio critique sessions run hours overtime because the critics shaped the studio pacing around themselves and not the students. And after these overtime sessions, students would come out of it with nothing, feeling lost or confused about their work and the next steps. In addition, Zoom University is holding professors more accountable regarding the approach to the curriculum. We prioritize the study of form in this avant-garde Western discourse over the study of diverse cultures and peoples that our architecture will serve. We study architects of this precedent-based education who are great in their own rights, but coincidentally are all predominantly white and male; today, where most architecture programs are majority female and increasingly diverse, this is unacceptable. Those are the frustrations that I experience and observe in other students, and it has led to accelerated mental exhaustion in the strenuous work of studio and the frustration of the outdated mentality. Silver lining, I get some pretty good illustrations out of this frustration and energy
Ideas
Your illustrations (like ‘Malarkey’) are playful and based on common phrases or lyrics - Is this a common theme that inspires your artwork? Do you seek other inspiration?
I’m glad that you see ‘Malarkey’ as playful, I guess I wanted to leave that impression through the color and the mess. But at the same time, I made ‘Malarkey’ in high school at the end of the college decision wave. I applied to 14 schools and got accepted into 4- none of which were in my home state, California- and waitlisted into 3 – including UC Berkeley and Cal Poly SLO. I felt defeated and exhausted, so I spent one all-nighter digesting my college application process with a pack of dollar store ballpoint pens and one of my most expensive papers at the time, bristol. When I look back at ‘Malarkey,’ I see the different phases of acceptance. The character looks over their shoulder in scorn, concentrating its energy in the core. Eventually, time chases the lines to the top, where they tangle and loosen; this was around when I began questioning whether the decisions that I made during high school were right, or how delusional I was to think that I could be the student that I want to be. Finally, the top is abandoned, and the character’s roots begin to form in a more definitive light. Here, I reassured myself of my worth and knew that I will deliver my best effort regardless of the university I attend. I went to Georgia Tech for one year, worked my butt off, and was able to transfer to UC Berkeley and shave one year off of my undergraduate career. I reflect upon ‘Malarkey’ as a moment of disappointment, confusion clarity. After all, the preconception of university as this pivotal shape in one’s character is just a bunch of malarkey.
Catherine Wang, Malarkey. Image courtesy of Catherine Wang.
Catherine Wang, Process of Unnamed Watercolor Person. Image courtesy of Catherine Wang.
Resources
What are resources (tools, influence, mediums) that you use?
I use anything and everything. I would use highlighters, mechanical pencils, ballpoint pens- really whatever I have laying on my desk. Sometimes, I bust out a brush pen (Pentel GFKP) and just play. I would draw on sketch paper and bristol, but most of my practice ends up in the recycling bin, so I use post-its and printer paper for disposable ideas. I don’t really get inspiration or influence; illustration to me is just a way to communicate and organize my thoughts when I feel strongly about something, or to just be spontaneous and have fun.
I used to oil paint, and I still do sometimes, but I do not display those. My start with oil paint fueled my strive for perfection, so today I leave it on the backburner.
Process
Can you show us a quick visual guide to one of your illustrations?
My Process! Examples
Catherine Wang, Process of Malarkey. Image courtesy of Catherine Wang.
Catherine Wang, Process of Unnamed Watercolor Person. Image courtesy of Catherine Wang.
Catherine Wang, Process of Unnamed Calligraphy. Image courtesy of Catherine Wang.
Catherine Wang, Untitled. Image courtesy of Catherine Wang.
Want to #Illustrate? Follow These Steps!
What are the bases to start freehand illustrations? How do you get creative? What art supplies do you use the most?
Fun and Not Caring Too Much. Do not force yourself to draw when you don’t feel like it. If you want to draw but you feel stuck, just put the pen to the paper and see what happens. Allow yourself to be spontaneous and unexpected; the creative juices and motivation will come when you get surprised by what your instincts tell you to do.
I mostly use pencil, ballpoint pen, brush pen, watercolor, oils and acrylics, and alcohol markers. I rarely use them all at the same time, though. Just whatever I want to play with at that time.
In terms of rising concerns and problems (in the architectural profession) over the past year, what is one change that you wish would happen and it did not?
Increase the communication between students and faculty in architecture. Bridge the dialogue of diversity and inclusivity and progress the architecture education forward.
Catherine Wang, Unnamed Calligraphy. Image courtesy of Catherine Wang.
