90. Unlocking artistic energy with creative chimera XinYi Xan
"I just lean into my curiosities and fears. I truly believe growth is on the other side of fear, and I never want to stop growing."
XinYi Xan is a software engineer, digital nomad, and multi-talented artist – “creative chimera,” as she puts it. XinYi was born in Malaysia, is based in Dallas, and regularly travels all over the world, from Mexico to Portugal!
We met a few years ago when XinYi pioneered her Don’t Be Strangers community, which is so inclusive and fun. I’ve joined her online meet-ups & penpal circles, and appeared as a guest on her podcast. All the while I’ve been in awe of her creative energy and wanted to ask her more about her inspirations.
Here is our interview, lightly edited for concision and clarity. We touch on XinYi’s various artistic outlets and what’s making her tick these days; why she breaks her travel rules when it comes to Mexico City; and tips for finding a balance between novelty and routine.
Rachel: Hi XinYi! How have you been since your Vancouver trip?
XinYi: Vancouver unlocked something for me creatively. During all my downtime on my trip, I got to unblock on my auto fiction project An Aromance / A Romance and carrying that energy home has helped me transfer it to other creative outlets! Overall, I am feeling really good!
R: That’s awesome, I’m so glad to hear!
I think I first met you when you followed me from your Creative Chimera Instagram account. Can you tell us more about this term you came up with?
X: At that time, I was still struggling with where I fit in the creative community. I felt like introducing myself as an artist didn’t sit quite right because I feel like the word “artist” implies some sort of specialization. And I don’t do any one thing. I remember just sitting myself down and brainstorming in my journal — playing a word association game of sort, to try to find a better term for myself. This is what I landed on, and when I arrived at it, it just felt right. I also love that the term is self-explaining.
R: Absolutely, it’s self-explanatory and the alliteration is a nice bonus!
What’s been your favourite phase in the past? What phase are you in right now; what medium is really resonating?
X: Digital illustration really defined my most formative years. It’s where I started getting online (shoutout to deviantArt), found community, and friends outside of school. It was super motivating because everyone cheered each other on. And I improved my art so quickly while I was still plugged into this community because I felt constantly inspired to improve. I think sometimes I miss it dearly — but I’ve come to realize that while I sometimes feel sad about “who could I have been, had I just focused on digital illustration and developed this skill?”, I know I would have never been satisfied being boxed into one medium.
Nowadays I find myself gravitating towards video as a mixed medium outlet. I love that there is a component of graphic design, set design, a little bit of acting, a little bit of styling, scripting, etc.
R: Oh wow, same here, I started with digital illustration in high school! I wonder if our paths ever crossed on deviantArt. From the colours to the detailed textures, that piece is gorgeous.
I noticed you’re doing a creative 365 challenge on Instagram. Tell us more about your process for reels, and how you keep the workflow manageable.
X: Ever since I finished The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, I’ve wanted to become more consistent with both making and sharing my art. I think about two weeks ago, I made my first carousel post announcing that this was day 1 of Project 365. I don’t even know why I said it, especially since I’ve never even been able to finish Inktober (where participants draw every day for 30 days based on prompts). But now I’m committed. I just finished 12 days so… so far so good. I’ve given myself grace because on busy days when I have to do design work for Don’t Be Strangers, I’ll also double that as output for Project 365.
Most of my art I’ve been sharing has been reels though. There’s so much more I want to explore with video in terms of cool transitions I’d like to try, special effects editing, and just thinking about interesting B-roll [extra footage]. An unexpected turn of this project is that I’m making a lot of reels where I just decorate my little art studio corner or I’m trying to creatively problem solve.
For example, this one of me building a DIY tripod to capture that bird’s-eye view shot:
R: I love how loosely you’re defining the output for this project – it can be anything creative, which should make it more doable. I’ll be cheering you on!
Where’s your favourite place you’ve lived so far, and how did that place inspire you creatively?
X: Mexico City, without a doubt. It’s one of the most visually stunning places I’ve ever stayed in in that there is such a blend of modern and classical architecture perfectly integrated into the greenery of the mountains that it is built upon. There are parts of it where you are so close to downtown yet feel like you are living inside a park. The creative culture is strong and I believe it stems from their ancestral ties to the arts mixed with how close Mexicans live tied to the land.
It’s a place where I feel like every business is designed with the utmost love and care. Not like in America where I feel like so many coffeeshops are just slapped into a cookie cutter retail space and filled with some uniform chairs to enable seating. Every coffee shop I go to in Mexico City has a core concept and the interiors, the mugs, the seating, and even their bathrooms captures this essence. I use the coffeeshop example because I visit so many everywhere that I go, I feel like I have a strong reference point to compare by when I speak of them.
Because I’m always seeking novelty through my art and travels, it’s rare for me to ever return to a city even if I love it. But I’ve been to Mexico City 4 times already and plan on going back.
R: I’m so intrigued by the cafe scene in Mexico City. The way you speak of it makes me want to visit.
You’ve expanded Don’t Be Strangers into in-person socials, retreats, workshops and more. How do you come up with these ideas? What have you found are the barriers and benefits to doing them live, in-person (as opposed to over Discord or Google Meet during the pandemic)?
X: I want to love online. I think there’s a lot of benefits to being able to be in the same ”space” as people across the globe. It generates important conversations. But nothing beats in person. For an introvert like me, in person is scary. And feeling that fear but showing up anyways is so powerful. I feel like that’s the type of people that Don’t Be Strangers attracts, and I’m so grateful! You guys truly inspire me to keep pushing myself out of my comfort zone as well!
As for idea generation. I just lean into my curiosities and fears. I truly believe growth is on the other side of fear, and I never want to stop growing. Don’t Be Strangers started as a podcast cause I was really curious about not only producing one, but also just curious about sharing the stories of everyday people! Then I asked myself: “What if… the audience didn’t just get to listen to my co-host and I talk? What if they could directly interact with us?” And that sparked the pen pals club. Over time, I just kept asking myself “what if” until we are here!
I just hosted a workshop today in Dallas called “Start Here” to help the overthinkers and perfectionists move towards momentum and action. I was still shaking through hosting it — even though it was my idea and even though I’ve been hosting events for 3 years now!
R: You really made this project your own – like you say, you’ve focused the branding to attract a certain kind of introspective, open, and quietly outgoing person. I love how you keep experimenting with different workshops and retreats to expand Don’t Be Strangers.
When we had dinner, you told me about little life experiments you’re doing, like choosing books exclusively from “free little library” boxes around town. I recall you have a penchant for the concept of biohacking as well. I also love these ideas and “hacks” which keep life fresh. At the same time, I can struggle with adding too much novelty, to the point that novelty comes at the expense of balance and routine, if that makes sense? How do you handle those two extremes?
X: I definitely have a bias toward novelty. However, certain elements of routine are still important to me as it is through routine and habits that we make our biggest progress.
For those struggling with a happy medium between routine and novelty, I recommend identifying your values and current goals then prioritizing some routines based on what you want to focus on currently. I update my goals on a monthly basis so they never get stale and are always accurate to the latest version of myself.
Every day, I record my mood and some highlights in a journal. At the end of every month, I will review my activities against my moods against my goals and see how they line up. Based off these metrics, I decide on goals for the new month! It sounds super fancy, but a lot of it is intuitive. There have been times when I’ve only accomplished 20% of my goals. Even on the months I “miss” there is useful information hidden in the “failure.” Why wasn’t I able to accomplish these goals? Did I change during this month so that these goals no longer mattered to me? There are times when I’ve carried the same goals over from month to month because either I still haven’t done it yet, or it’s a long term habit I’m trying to develop.
Based off these goals, it becomes quite apparent how to backwards engineer them into your schedule. Sometimes it is saying “this has to be done every day, even if only for 5 minutes.” Other times, it is more flexible, such as “I just need to do this 3 times a week, and I don’t care when or how I accomplish it.”
R: That’s so smart, I think I’ll try that method starting with my next month-end reflections :)
Lastly, what are your plans for future pop-ups and ventures? Where can people follow you?
X: People can reach out via @creativechimera.studio on Instagram! I am also dabbling with YouTube!
Or if you care less about my personal art and more about the greater issue of adult loneliness, you can join the cause at @dontbestrangers or dontbestrangers.club!
I love connecting with fellow creatives, so don’t be shy to reach out!
R: Wonderful, thanks again XinYi!
X: This was so fun! Thanks for letting me continue the conversation through this interview!
Inspired by XinYi’s experimentation, what is a new habit or creative outlet you’d like to try? Share with us in the comments!