SPOTLIGHT: 2022 Fringe Resident Nicky Tsz Tung Li
Headshot of Nicky Tsz Tung Li
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m a Hong Kong born, female identifying, bisexual artist, attempting to emerge. I’m not an “emerging artist” yet, I’m attempting to emerge.
What are you looking forward to the most about your residency?
Having a safe space to create stuff and fail. But also having the chance to make something good.
Why did this residency feel like a good fit for you at this moment in your career?
I'm at the stage where I know what work I want to create, and what work I don't want to create. But I'm also early enough in my career that I have the time and space to keep experimenting and figuring that out. For who I am as a person ActNow fits the best.
What is one thing that you're excited to explore in this residency?
I’m excited about exploring how to present chaos in a way that makes sense. I think that because of the intersectionality of identity, and the artforms I use, a lot of times, when I try to present a bunch of work, it is not cohesive. And I think it’s the same for a lot of people. It can feel like it's just a mess. But that is my living experience, I don't know how to present my messy thoughts and creations in a way that makes sense.
What are three things we should know about you?
- I'm a physics and math tutor.
- I have three cats (Rumple, Chickpea and Jemma) and I like one of them more than the others. I feel like every pet owner, and every parent has got their favourite, but they pretend they don't have a favourite…But they always do.
- I make earrings. To save money I decided to make earrings, but then I ended up spending more money on materials (it didn’t work!) Now I've got hundreds of pairs of random earrings laying around. I don’t sell them, but I always keep two or three pairs packed in my purse, so if anyone comes up to me and says “I like your earrings” I give them a pair. It makes me happy that someone noticed some small thing I made. And it makes them happy that a random person just gave them earrings!
If you could have a meal with any person living or dead who would it be and why?
At the moment, it would be Jonathan Larson. I think he's such a good representation of a contemporary, struggling, starving artist. He died in January 1996, but up until around October 1995 he was still working as a waiter to support his life. The only reason he quit waiting was because, finally, his show RENT, was in workshop. He died the night it opened on Broadway. So, all his life he was working as a waiter, freelancing, just trying to support his writing career, but he never lived to see his success. So I really just want to tell him “you did it bro.” His music and his vision was so ahead of his time. He was such a good ally to the diverse community, and especially the LGBTQ+ community.