Hello everyone, My name is Maan Yiu but everyone calls me Bebe. I am an international student from Hong Kong. Since I was a child, I have had a passion for all art. When I was in middle school, an art teacher encouraged me to participate in a school-wide art competition. It felt great to have encouragement from my art teacher, however, my parents felt differently about me getting too involved in art. Because I felt this parental pressure to be traditionally successful, I had no choice but to move on from art as a career. Then, in my early twenties, I went through a period of self-discovery. It was during this time that I rediscovered my curiosity and fascination with art. That’s why I am here. 

My career goals are to become a graphic designer and tattoo artist. I want to be a graphic designer because I want to utilize my knowledge of art while continuing to gain practical skills and experience throughout my career. More specifically, I was drawn to graphic design as a career because graphic designers draw from and apply multiple art mediums to meet client needs. Fortunately, there is overlap between the graphic design field and the tattoo world. My understanding is that the artist and client collaborative relationship in graphic design is similar in the tattoo industry, which I’m looking forward to experiencing for myself. Furthermore, I have always had an appreciation for tattoos that is different from the view of the culture where I grew up. I see tattoos as an individual expression of self while the standard view of tattoos in Hong Kong is conservative. Even so, I look forward to following my passion for art by becoming both a graphic designer and tattoo artist.