Tell us about your background & how it led you to where you are today.

"I’m sure there are an untold number of intersections and experiences that have lead me to where I am creatively today. If i were to write here the first few that come to mind they would be:

Growing up in Thamesmead, London

Not looking like or fitting in at school or where I grew up

Attending art school and meeting people from all over

Moving to Japan and starting my career there"

What motivates your creative work?

"For me work and play are pretty much the same thing. I’ve found that when I meet people with a gift/talent I find it very inspiring. I’ve always had an interest in technology from a young age. Life for me has lead me on a path where I’m obsessed with lines and drawings, I love to collaborate with people who are able to take these lines and drawings to new mediums and spaces."

What does being a gique mean to you?

"For me it means being able to do what I love and to appreciate the many layers of it. I catch myself thinking sometime that I do not know anything about math and then I look at my drawing and see that math is in there, it’s a part of us and that's the same for science, art, tech and engineering. These are all building blocks that allow me to do what I love to do."

What advice do you want to offer to other artists?

"Start with simply drawing a line and see where that takes you. It’s sometimes easy to tell your self, if I had this then I would….. If someone would give me this then I could etc…. Don’t wait for anyone or anything. Use what you have access to now and take it one small step at a time."

Shantell Martin, an artist known for her stream-of-consciousness drawings, draws on people, on airplanes, and on clothing. Her whimsical white button-downs are not for sale. Read more: http://nyr.kr/19CI6g8 Watch more videos on newyorker.com/video Follow us at vimeo.com/newyorkervideo Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/newyorkervideo

From London to Tokyo to New York, internationally acclaimed visual artist Shantell Martin is expanding conventional definitions of drawing and animation to transform visual experience in the design, fashion and music industries. Her dazzling light projections have been featured in iconic spots such as New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the megaclubs of Tokyo and Russia, and on the enormous screens at Shibuya and Harajuku crossings in Tokyo. Martin has quickly infiltrated popular culture stateside -- she’s been cast as herself on quintessential New York show Gossip Girl, interviewed on CNN, appeared on an NBC morning show, and deemed a muse of super-hip design blog, PSFK. In October 2011, she was interviewed in French Glamour as New York’s “coolest it girl.”

http://www.shantellmartin.com/