An aspiring architect and artist, Michael Tan knew he wanted to pursue a degree in architecture ever since he was in grade 5. He was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China, and moved to Vancouver, Canada, in 2010 when he was 5 years old. After moving to Canada, he attended Quilchena Elementary in Kerrisdale, Vancouver, before transferring to Collingwood in Grade 8.
Badminton is Michael’s favorite sport; he used to play competitively in tournaments on a team, but has now stopped due to time constraints. He decided to focus more on school grades and art. Regarding school subjects, he says mathematics is his favorite because it empowers his logical thinking and reasoning skills, and he feels rewarded after solving a complicated math problem. Currently, Michael is a senior taking challenging courses such as AP Physics C, AP Calc BC, AP Studio Art, Industrial Design, and Senior Jazz Band. In his spare time, he takes captivating photos with his Sony A74 camera, plays his violin, sketches, and plays Valorant, a 5v5 character-based tactical FPS where precise gunplay meets unique agent abilities, and Michael is ranked Ascendant 1. Watching anime is another way for Michael to relax. He prefers anime movies over anime series, articulating that this is because “they bring out a type of completeness and stronger imagery not found in anime series”.
Michael is passionate about the subject of architecture and design, which he aspires to pursue in university and in the future. He has taken art classes since Grade 2, and he states that his older brother was a significant inspiration, luring him into the world of art with doodles on his journals. Ever since he began taking classes, he fell in love with the process and essence of art. Michael enjoys the process of art because, to him, “it is extremely satisfying to see a puzzle being slowly completed, the loose pieces harmoniously being matched together, complementing each other”. Michael's artwork allows him to showcase his unique style and is often a commentary on current events. Art allows Michael to feel less stressed, and occasionally procrastinate on some homework (but not too much!).
During the 2021/2022 year, Michael completed his art portfolio, featuring many beautiful and unique pieces of artwork. His portfolio contains a plethora of architectural building designs, creative illustrations, graphic designs, industrial designs, and quick sketches that he creates on the spot. The importance and meaning of this remarkable portfolio is deep; it symbolizes the best of his art and his style. However, Michael says he is not a “contest person” and he does not enjoy competing with others. Instead he is much more interested in developing and improving his own style and technique. Michael shares that, “Art is a way of projecting my thoughts and discovering hidden/deeper meaning behind objects or events that seem simple. It represents what I feel about different things from different perspectives.” He repeatedly mentions how he views art as multidimensional: a complicated concept with distinctively similar ideas. He thinks a person's understanding of art will change if they look at it from different perspectives, because many pieces of artwork contain multiple aspects.
Young artists are trying their best to enhance their skills and technique. Many need guidance to grow. However, Michael warns that giving an excess amount of guidance and restrictions to a developing artist might create an adverse effect. He recommends that all artists should focus strongly on creativity and innovation, as art is a very open and free subject with many correct methods. Young artists should try their best to develop technical skills and master their basic sketching skills in order to ease their future endeavors, but creativity is key to creating personally impactful artwork. As we all know, school can get very busy especially when participating in many extracurricular activities. Michael offers some advice on how to manage this: “Balancing out the events that you want to participate in and the ones that you need to attend, but do not enjoy doing, is critical in order to not get overwhelmed.”
Michael’s technical and fundamental skills as well as his general process of creativity improved tremendously over the years due to creating his own art and designs, and he feels more mature and multidimensional, possessing more than one viewpoint and solution to his everyday problems. He thinks practicing art not only improves his sketching skills, but it also improves his life skills and gives him multiple approaches to his schoolwork. His artistic approach even assists him by planning out his time in a better way.
In the future, Michael would like to study Design and Architecture in university, preferably USC OR Cornell University, and he would like to become an architect designing buildings and other items after he graduates from university. Further down the line, he hopes to potentially become a product designer, building designer, or industrial designer, and living in Japan would be ideal for him as he loves the energy and culture there. We wish Michael the best of luck in his future endeavors and his magnificent creations of art.
Badminton is Michael’s favorite sport; he used to play competitively in tournaments on a team, but has now stopped due to time constraints. He decided to focus more on school grades and art. Regarding school subjects, he says mathematics is his favorite because it empowers his logical thinking and reasoning skills, and he feels rewarded after solving a complicated math problem. Currently, Michael is a senior taking challenging courses such as AP Physics C, AP Calc BC, AP Studio Art, Industrial Design, and Senior Jazz Band. In his spare time, he takes captivating photos with his Sony A74 camera, plays his violin, sketches, and plays Valorant, a 5v5 character-based tactical FPS where precise gunplay meets unique agent abilities, and Michael is ranked Ascendant 1. Watching anime is another way for Michael to relax. He prefers anime movies over anime series, articulating that this is because “they bring out a type of completeness and stronger imagery not found in anime series”.
Michael is passionate about the subject of architecture and design, which he aspires to pursue in university and in the future. He has taken art classes since Grade 2, and he states that his older brother was a significant inspiration, luring him into the world of art with doodles on his journals. Ever since he began taking classes, he fell in love with the process and essence of art. Michael enjoys the process of art because, to him, “it is extremely satisfying to see a puzzle being slowly completed, the loose pieces harmoniously being matched together, complementing each other”. Michael's artwork allows him to showcase his unique style and is often a commentary on current events. Art allows Michael to feel less stressed, and occasionally procrastinate on some homework (but not too much!).
During the 2021/2022 year, Michael completed his art portfolio, featuring many beautiful and unique pieces of artwork. His portfolio contains a plethora of architectural building designs, creative illustrations, graphic designs, industrial designs, and quick sketches that he creates on the spot. The importance and meaning of this remarkable portfolio is deep; it symbolizes the best of his art and his style. However, Michael says he is not a “contest person” and he does not enjoy competing with others. Instead he is much more interested in developing and improving his own style and technique. Michael shares that, “Art is a way of projecting my thoughts and discovering hidden/deeper meaning behind objects or events that seem simple. It represents what I feel about different things from different perspectives.” He repeatedly mentions how he views art as multidimensional: a complicated concept with distinctively similar ideas. He thinks a person's understanding of art will change if they look at it from different perspectives, because many pieces of artwork contain multiple aspects.
Young artists are trying their best to enhance their skills and technique. Many need guidance to grow. However, Michael warns that giving an excess amount of guidance and restrictions to a developing artist might create an adverse effect. He recommends that all artists should focus strongly on creativity and innovation, as art is a very open and free subject with many correct methods. Young artists should try their best to develop technical skills and master their basic sketching skills in order to ease their future endeavors, but creativity is key to creating personally impactful artwork. As we all know, school can get very busy especially when participating in many extracurricular activities. Michael offers some advice on how to manage this: “Balancing out the events that you want to participate in and the ones that you need to attend, but do not enjoy doing, is critical in order to not get overwhelmed.”
Michael’s technical and fundamental skills as well as his general process of creativity improved tremendously over the years due to creating his own art and designs, and he feels more mature and multidimensional, possessing more than one viewpoint and solution to his everyday problems. He thinks practicing art not only improves his sketching skills, but it also improves his life skills and gives him multiple approaches to his schoolwork. His artistic approach even assists him by planning out his time in a better way.
In the future, Michael would like to study Design and Architecture in university, preferably USC OR Cornell University, and he would like to become an architect designing buildings and other items after he graduates from university. Further down the line, he hopes to potentially become a product designer, building designer, or industrial designer, and living in Japan would be ideal for him as he loves the energy and culture there. We wish Michael the best of luck in his future endeavors and his magnificent creations of art.