Full Name: Ardith Ibañez Nishii
Vocation: Full-time mommy + artist + designer
Current City: NYC
Website: www.barkadako.com
Something that you love? My baby boy, Cedro, lights up my life. He’s 100% pure joy. He’s my muse. http://cedromasanori.wordpress.com/
Something that inspires you: Oh no! Do I have to pick just one thing? I can’t. (I’m Gemini.) I fill sketchbooks and journals of inspirational people, things and moments every day. (Ugh. This is a stressful question!…) I guess I’ll share the most tangible things off the top of my head…
#1: I’m fascinated by how people get to where they are in life. I love watching the Bonus Features of movie DVDs. The most common thread between featurettes is how someone overcomes seemingly insurmountable obstacles to accomplish what they love. Check out the interview of Ang Lee talking about making Eat Drink Man Woman or how Steven Lisberger and his team created the effects for Tron back in the early 80’s or the behind-the-scenes footage of how the Lost TV show pilot was made. JJ Abrams is a genius.
#2 I love the form and function of pretty much all things Japanese. I go in a Japanese shop and go nuts over how the fruits and vegetables are stacked, how the products are packaged, how gifts are wrapped (with one beautiful piece of paper and one piece of tape)… It all represents an attention to detail that exudes a pride in one’s work that’s so admirable.
Something you aspire to: I daydream about working on film or television projects one day. I believe that movies and TV shows are the most pervasive storytelling tools. Being Filipino-American, I feel a sense of duty to do something for the Filipino community. According to the 2010 U.S. census, Filipinos make up 20% of the Asian-American population —- the second largest Asian ethnic group after Chinese-Americans —- yet the Filipino voice is largely unheard in mainstream American culture. We need something more than cameos as housekeepers, nannies, mail-order brides or prostitutes speaking broken English. (Until then, I’m happy to cheer on the most famous Filipino and most bad-ass fighter, Manny Pacquiao!)
My sister and I had the opportunity to meet world champion boxer, Manny Pacquiao, when he was training in Los Angeles in November 2009.
Thoughts on living an art directed life? I believe art exists in everyday life beyond museum and gallery walls. Everyone has the potential to create and share interesting and profound work. I believe that happens the minute you ignore the fact or even possibility that you might have a client waiting at the end of that long dark tunnel… I love the title of the book, “The Journey is the Destination.” It’s a collection of pages from the journals of the late artist and photojournalist, Dan Eldon. As an artist and designer, I am constantly struggling with the goal of producing a specific end result versus enjoying the experience of the creative process. An art directed life? To me, it’s about embracing new media, venturing out beyond my comfort zone, accepting my mistakes, and pretending that I don’t have an audience when I make something. You know… like that saying that starts, “Dance like nobody’s watching…” This is my general philosophy which I find much easier to describe than to practice, except for the part about “Dance like nobody’s watching.”
