Artist Tiger Chengliang Cai joins the The Truth in This Art. In this episode, Cai shares his journey from China to New York and how his background shapes his creative work. Cai talks about teaching himself art as a child, struggling against expectations, and making his own path in the art world. He loves using riddles and metaphors in his art, with a special focus on the immigrant experience. Cai explains why he doesn’t want to “spoon-feed” meaning to his audience, preferring people to find their own truth in his work. He describes the challenges of making art in a new country and bridging the gap between cultures. Cai reflects on staying true to his ideas, experimenting, and using curiosity as his guide.
Topics Covered:
- Teaching himself art as a child in China
- Overcoming expectations to pursue art
- Navigating the differences between audiences in China and the U.S.
- Using riddles and metaphors, especially about immigration
- Staying true to personal beliefs in creative work
- The importance of curiosity and experimentation
- Bridging cultures through art
Want to see more of Tiger’s creative journey? Visit his Instagram @tigerpht or his website to check out his latest projects.
Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production:
- Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel Alexis
- Edited by Daniel Alexis
- Show Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and Transistor
Photos:
- Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.
- Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.
- The Truth In This Art Podcast Fractured Atlas (Fundraising): https://www.fracturedatlas.org
- The Truth In This Art Podcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/thetruthinthisart.bsky.social
- The Truth In This Art Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truthinthisart/?hl=en
- The Truth In This Art Podcast Website: https://www.thetruthinthisart.com/
- The Truth In This Art Podcast Shop: Merch from Redbubble
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.