Ambrose Iu | Soph.Curates

What do you do?

Paint and make videos primarily, but photography is just something I picked up along the way, for documentation and to help figure what kind of shots I need for the video. Taking photos at University can make you mad cash if you know the right people, but I hopped on the bandwagon a little too late.

 How and why did you start?

Well painting and drawing has always been just a habit from doodling in class to just doodling and working out my teenage/now twenties angst into larger modes of recording. Art for me has always been therapeutic, so I guess I started out of boredom but also as a sort of release to a spectrum of wildly tiring emotions that I felt and still feel on the daily.

Photography and video started in a stranger way. I mean I remember directing a short film in highschool, and using the school camera to take photos. Back then (at least for me), cameras were not cheap devices you owned individually, but rather as a family we shared one camera which we brought to use only on family gatherings and family vacations.

It was when I first got my own camera, that I really started to take pictures and videos in a more regular way. I’ve also acted in plenty ofstudent films, so knowing the video ccommunity helped. I also started shooting my own short films because of my art classes. All in all, it’s a lot easier to snap a picture and video events or moments, so it just became a different way of documentation. 

I feel like painting and my video/photography constantly competes for my attention, and it is hardly to not have a favourite at times. 

What are you currently working on/what should we be looking forward to?

Looking to finish a music video collaborating with some rnb/hip hop artists and also finish a painting that I’ve been working on for a while

What’s your advice for people who want to get started?

Just do it. It sounds dumb. But really whatever it is, just continue making things, writing things, drawing things, filming things.. etc. It's scary when you first put yourself in the public domain, but repetition and practice grows confidence. Honestly, sometimes you just have to be like IDGAF and know the first time things are going to go wrong and you might continue messing up for a while, but things always work out in the end.

Also in addition to my vague spiel, there are plenty of opportunities out there, if you look hard enough. Worst comes to worst, you don't have to work an art job to be an artist.

Lastly, shamelessly plug yourself!

My work email is