If you have been paying attention to the fashion and trend circles, then you must be familiar with the characters created by local fashion illustrator Mickco Chan. Before dedicating himself full-time to art, Mickco was a musician and gained recognition through his work in film illustration, which caught the attention of major international fashion brands. With over a decade in the art scene, Mickco has collaborated with countless brands. However, behind all the commercial collaborations, he has never forgotten about an art project he created when he first started called “Universe” – a story that pieced together a certain chapter of his life.
The interweaving of countless threads is born from creativity, giving rise to a myriad of connections. In recent years, Mickco has endeavored to fulfill the original artistic project in various ways. The project “Universe” later evolved into a story called “Cosmos,” which was eventually presented in the form of a physical exhibition. Even today, this story continues to brew, accompanying the artist throughout their creative journey.
And on the creative path, Mickco has always embraced an open attitude and used different media to interpret the ideal image in his heart. He claims to love technology and besides traditional hand-drawing, he often uses electronic products for creation. Two years ago, he even challenged himself to create NFT, extending the story of “The Universe”. At a time when the AI technology trend is sweeping the world and everyone is discussing whether technology can completely replace human creativity, Mickco has long adhered to the principle of “using but not relying on” and combined AI with his personal creations, bringing a whole new breakthrough to his personal projects.
In this episode of “Art City Travelogue,” we will follow Mickco into his life and discuss his current creative situation. We also hope to understand how he, as an artist, views the development trends of artificial intelligence art.
“Creativity needs to have uniqueness.”
The reason why creation is unique and precious is because it incorporates the life essence of each creator. Looking at Mickco’s works, there is a high appearance rate of beautiful female characters with big eyes and full lips. They are all dressed in gorgeous fashion, complemented by exquisite makeup and hair, turning a plain canvas into a vibrant fashion show.
Because his father is a fashion designer, he has grown up surrounded by the visual elements of the fashion industry. As a fashion illustrator, Mickco believes that fashion and art are the same. He says, “Even if you look at all the objects we see now, if you put them away for a decade or if the quantity of that thing becomes scarce in the world, it becomes art.” It’s not about the length of time, but rather the rarity that the work ultimately displays. In order to capture this rarity, your work must be unique and memorable.
Mickco has always been more inclined towards drawing people, mainly because he has loved reading comic books and playing video games since he was young. The characters he creates are all unique and distinctive, which has become the focus of his creations. He shared, “For me, creating something has to have uniqueness, because others should be able to recognize it as your work right away.” Whether he is creating characters for fairy tales or depicting individuals in commercial advertisements, they all possess his own distinctive style, slowly seeping into everyone’s memory.
“I have always wanted to imitate the brushstrokes of children’s drawings in my creative process.”
The characters depicted by Mickco are full of a fashionable aura, yet they do not lose the genuine sense of childlike innocence, just like himself, emitting a sense of affinity. Mickco jokingly mentioned that in the past, there were always people commenting that his works looked like children’s drawings, but it turns out that this is exactly what he has been pursuing. He shared with us, “When you grow up, you no longer paint with the same carefreeness as a child. In a way, I have been practicing how to return to painting like a child.”
The world in the eyes of adults is filled with various meanings, and we are eager to express the characteristics of certain things, but we are unknowingly trapped in “reality”. In the eyes of children, what they depict on paper is the world they intuitively feel, even if it doesn’t make sense, but those are their ways of understanding the world, so pure and sincere. And this innocent beauty is something that adults find difficult to imitate. Rather than saying that he spends time imitating drawing like a child, what Mickco has been practicing is perhaps discovering the original intention of “beauty”.
Returning to the art project mentioned earlier about “The Universe,” it contains Mickco’s emotional imprints of over eight years. It is a very personal life journey, which is not entirely beautiful, but rather a self-examination of the creator. Sometimes it is broken, sometimes it is reorganized, and he has been using his creations to repair what is missing in his heart. The works in this project still have a touch of childishness, which is actually his return to his original intention and an attempt to heal himself.
“I am a self-centered artist.”
There is no need to deliberately pursue any profound meaning in creation, Mickco paints the most authentic version of himself. He says, “I never paint anything unrelated to myself. Some artists may enjoy painting things related to social issues, but I am a more self-centered artist. All of my artworks revolve around my own world and the things happening within myself.” Instead of seeking to inspire others through his works, he expresses personal emotions through the process of painting, which is already satisfying for him.
Mickco says that he is someone who easily feels anxious, with different thoughts constantly popping into his mind. Only when he is creating can he focus and slowly empty himself. For him, painting is the best way to release a thousand thoughts. He claims not to be a very planned person, but rather pursues a kind of spontaneous creativity.
This unconventional attitude also makes him more willing to try different creative mediums. Mickco, who has always been enthusiastic about technology, after his first foray into NFT creation two years ago, has now conceived the idea of materializing the stories he has created in the past.
He shared, “I am very obsessed with technology, and sometimes I think if that NFT artwork is like something from ‘Black Mirror,’ you could touch it in the second original universe in the future, that would be three-dimensional, and I would find it much more interesting.” Between the virtual and the physical, he said he likes both ways, but physical works can bring more experiences to others.
“AI can to some extent become my second brain, allowing me to do things that I may not be able to do otherwise.”
Mickco has been using digital drawing for many years and he believes that the combination of technology and art is no longer uncommon. Recently, there has been a lot of buzz about AI technology, which not only allows us to chat with it, but also enables it to write articles and even create art. This has raised concerns for many people, wondering if technology can replace our jobs and even engage in artistic creation. We are also curious about Mickco’s views on the development of artificial intelligence. Does he worry that AI will threaten the creativity of artists themselves?
Mickco said frankly, “AI is not a threat to me. In some ways, it can even help me generate some ideal concepts. Because its database is rich in information, so every time it generates something, it’s different. It actually brings different inspirations to my creation, which may be something I wouldn’t think of normally.”
Mickco said that he has been working on a project recently, which is to turn the creation of the exhibition “Universe” from two years ago into a complete story. When the “Universe” project started, he actually wanted to merge the lyrics written by Wyman and weave them into the story of “Universe”. However, it was put on hold due to copyright issues. It wasn’t until 2019 when a song by Feng Yingqi was chosen by singer Chen Jianan that the lyricist happened to approach Wyman, giving birth to the song “Searching for Love in the Wrong Universe”. In 2021, Mickco was preparing for the “Universe” exhibition, and fate brought them together, slowly shaping this project into a more three-dimensional story.
“Technology expands the creative space for creators.”
He said, “Actually, I used to have a ridiculous and exaggerated idea, which was to imagine if one day I could turn the characters I have drawn in the ‘Universe’ series into a musical.” This seemingly whimsical idea has become even more real with the emergence of AI. Although he has tried to collaborate with different people in the past in hopes of realizing this idea, it is not easy to bring the various characters and scenes in the world of painting into reality. The budget involved is also much higher than imagined, so Mickco had to temporarily put it aside.
He continued, “Now, AI can generate a realistic image based on my original design, which could potentially serve as a reference for clothing. In a way, it could become a mood board or concept sheet. In the end, I may still hire someone to take photographs, but I already have a unique reference that belongs to me, which allows others to see my vision. This aspect will enhance the final outcome and bring it closer to my ideas.” Mickco emphasized that the images generated by AI serve as a creative aid rather than a threat.
However, on the other hand, there are still many people who criticize AI image generation platforms for collecting the unique styles accumulated by different creators and allowing users to directly imitate and copy them, thereby damaging the original artworks protected by copyright. As an original artist himself and a user of AI image generation platforms, how does Mickco view this matter?
Mickco said, “I also feel that it will not infringe on the rights of original artists, because each artist has their own thoughts, even if people use AI to generate images, it can never replace what artists can do.” As he said, the ultimate purpose of creation is to express personal emotions, which is the essence of human artistic creation. It contains the soul of every creator, something that even advanced AI technology cannot completely replicate.
“Using AI is like opening a blind box.”
Starting from illustration, Mickco considers himself fortunate to have made his way into the Hong Kong fashion scene. In addition to focusing on his creative work, he is often invited to attend brand events. While his work requires him to interact with lively crowds, he also emphasizes the importance of knowing how to detach himself when it comes to creating.
Looking back at the creative environment in Hong Kong, the thriving fashion and beauty industry has allowed his work to reach more people through commercial channels, giving him the courage to delve into personal creations. He feels that Hong Kong people are still relatively conservative in their acceptance of new things. He says, “Many people feel fear towards the unknown, but after a while, when many people are using it, the public will feel that it is acceptable.”
And in Mickco’s own experience, from hand-drawing, digital drawing, digital creation, artificial intelligence art, etc., he has always been eager to progress and show different aspects of art to everyone. He said, “Technology is always advancing, and we should change our thinking and learn to use it to help our own creations.”
Mickco describes using AI as similar to opening a blind box. Artists turn their thoughts and feelings into keywords, allowing any whimsical idea to become possible. However, whether it is AI technology or the “Universe” project, perhaps even the creator themselves cannot fully imagine what it will develop into in the future. But maybe it is because it is unpredictable that art is so worth looking forward to.
Executive Producer: Angus Mok
Producer: Mimi Kong
Interview & text: Ruby Yiu
Videographer: Alvin Kong, Kason Tam, Fai Wong
Video Editor: Alvin Kong
Photographer: Ken Yeung
Designer: Michael Choi
Location: Oil Street Art Space
Special Thanks: Mickco Chan
