Angela Lian

Artist and designer Angela Lian combines movement and collage to create unique video art – a style which defines her role at BAGGU as well as her artistic practice. From the importance of dance and movement to her practice to living with chronic pain, she reflects on how the body shapes her art, design and day-to-day routine. Below, Angela shares her tips for building a fulfilling practice which embraces your "unique weirdness", from resisting shame and comparison culture to prioritising hobbies and your life outside your work.

About my work

My creative practice
I’m a graphic designer and video content creator at BAGGU, where I help express the brand through delightful social content and analog creative assets.

Influences and inspiration
I’m inspired by both human and non-human bodies in nature. Movement is such a big part of my practice: I love to dance, stretch and walk. Going on walks outside is probably my biggest source of inspiration, as well as visiting places like Storm King, Art Omi and Macricostas Preserve.

My mom is my greatest creative influence. She taught me to stay curious, feel things fully and express myself whenever possible.

My training
I studied graphic design at Boston University, where I learned how to think conceptually in my work. I took a lot of dance and psychology classes while in school, which helped inform what my practice is today, bridging body and mind to art and design.

Collaging is the skill/hobby that has helped me most in my training, whether physically with paper or digitally with video.

Favourite recent project
I’ve really enjoyed engaging with collage in my work at BAGGU. Every season, I get to make inspiration collages for social media based on the collection’s new styles and prints – a form of worldbuilding and storytelling. Along with this, I now create videos for their TikTok using techniques like greenscreen, stop motion and illustration. It’s a full circle moment considering I first started out doing video commissions for the brand in 2023.

A day in the life
The first three hours of my day are sacred to me, 7-10am. I drink a lot of water, eat breakfast, go on a walk, do pilates and physical therapy exercises, and then shower before I start working.

I’m chronically ill and live with chronic pain, so I take many movement and floor time breaks throughout the day. There are always electrolytes and a menthol product by me in case of a flare-up.

After work, I enjoy unwinding by laying on the floor, going on a walk and catching up with long-distance friends. I usually have many creative endeavors happening at once because I work best that way – this could be drawing, writing, preparing for a zine fair or dancing.

How I got here

Starting my creative journey
I started out freelancing for former professors from school, saying yes to everything from branding venture capital companies to designing print ephemera for art exhibitions. I’ve always shared my work on Instagram, but I started sharing it on TikTok too, bringing both new clients and new forms of creative expression.

Before I started at BAGGU, I was making video art and illustrations as a hobby, not knowing I was planting the seeds for the work I do now. I didn’t find my feet quickly though, often saying yes to things without understanding I’m the one in charge of my practice. Over time, I was able to ease up on extrinsic motivators so I could find what work intrinsically motivates me.

Landing my first few jobs, clients and/or commissions
My professors reached out to me after I graduated, but clients usually found me through social media. I’ve always seen myself as both an artist and a designer, so I made sure to post many types of work that showed my skills across both capacities – that increased my chances of being approached and hired, especially at the beginning of my career.

Biggest challenges along the way
The biggest challenge for me was my body adjusting to full-time work after freelancing for two years after college. I have the privilege of working from home, but I struggle with painful effects of sedentary screentime on my body daily. Living with a connective tissue disorder means that I struggle with the vicious cycle of migraines, joint instability, nerve compression and dizziness. In the last three years, I’ve been learning how to best tend to my body and encouraging others to tend to their creative wellbeing.

Angela's home office, the kitchen table

Everyday skills I’ve found helpful for my creative work:

My social media and self-promotion vibe is…
A personal archival playground. I try not to focus on perception and numbers, instead using social media as a tool for documenting and finding connections in my work. I love to find patterns, rediscover concepts and use my Instagram and TikTok as visual diaries within contextual containers. It’s a place that allows me to be curious, share my curiosities and connect with like-minded people.

Three things I've found useful in my career:

My greatest learnings when it comes to making money and supporting myself as a creative:
Be open to other streams of income. Aside from graphic design, I’ve also participated in focus groups via User Interviews, drawn greeting cards, created content for brands, saved on rent for a few months by subletting my apartment and travelling for cheap abroad using Trusted Housesitters for free accommodation, sold clothes on Depop or to consignment stores, sold zines at art book fairs, the list goes on…

It can be hard out here; don’t forget about the barter system. We all have tools, skills, and resources we can share with each other: currency exists in other forms! If you never ask, you will never know.

Advice

My most useful career tips
Shame will not assist in your transformation. Comparison really is the thief of joy and there is no point in comparing your path to another when you don’t know how much privilege they were born with, the struggles they’ve gone through, etc.

You can get money back, but you can’t get time back. Your life is still more important than your work and I hope all your dreams come true. We are only here for a brief time.

Ask questions, talk to people about their experiences, set up a 30-minute call with someone you look up to. Nonchalance is OUT!

Where I go to feel connected as a creative
Art book fairs, embodied movement spaces, creative workshops, wherever my friends and family are.

What I'd say to someone looking to get into a similar role
Shoot your shot by exposing your work to more online and in-person audiences and reaching out to people, companies or brands you admire. Be consistent, persistent and chalant.

Be proud to express your unique weirdness.