Meet Yanque Yip | Artist, Athlete & Agriculturalist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Yanque Yip and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Yanque, what do you attribute your success to?
“YanqueYipART” represents my genuine evolution as a human being. I have never sought to jump onto trends for popularity or viewership. I express what resonates with who I am and my intention. Essentially, my success is the achievement of my true intention even if it is not celebrated by the masses or appears to be a big deal. I’d rather have a few genuine supporters of my true expression than to have a large following for a facade. “YanqueYipART” is a brand that marks it’s own path through Persistence, Authenticity, Consistency, Excellence and Discipline.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The blend of who I am creates my unique brand. I am an athlete, a scientific mind, a lover of nature and agriculturalist that is able to incorporate the way I think and innovate into my art. Every piece that I create expresses my intentions, my truest investigations and documents the level that I have ascended to. Getting where I am today has always been easy because I developed the ability to be authentic from very early. I always dared to be different especially because I had experiences of being the odd one and was able to triumph through will power. I developed philosophically and learned core principles from an early stage. I never lived an easy life growing up. I witnessed my strong-willed mother providing for four of us and doing all things necessary even when the odds were against her. As they say “Hard times create strong men”. I am here to win in life, and whatever life throws at me I have learned to deal with in time. The principle of determination is my superpower. This lead me to becoming very competitive in Art, Athletics and Agriculture, my “life-purpose trinity”. My works are not here for the average one-dimensional approach. I express through the medium of art, but the expressions cannot be confined to a single field. My works are embedded with revolutionary thoughts, discoveries and the designs I create are laced with the principles of life from many dimensions. I am simply orchestrating the multiplicity of abilities that I have through the performance allowed to create “honest art”.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The Blue Mountain hike is a must do. There are beautiful beaches and rivers in St. Elizabeth such as Alligator Pond, the murals in Water Lane and other areas in Downtown, Kingston are a must see along with the National Stadium, especially during the National trials or a major meet such as Racers Grand Prix. Rick’s Cafe is a nice spot.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have benefitted from countless interactions that have contributed to my growth as a human being and development of the mind that I have. This includes my mother, aunts, uncles, step-father, grandmother, mentors and friends. Some of the most critical interactions are listed below:

1. My mother (Gaynell Spencer) demonstrated how I could draw a truck using cubes when I was still a very young child and I think this allowed me to develop an understanding of the 3-Dimensioanl world very early.

2. As I continued to draw through primary school, there was that friend (Roshane Hall) who would also draw when we were in class during our free time and we developed our skills because we enjoyed challenging each other and other class-mates. Years later, we are still great friends and support each other on various art projects.

3. My step-father (Vincent Newell) would give me a new challenge to draw something more complex as I developed my artistic skills through personal practice because there was no art class throughout primary school. I also recall that he encouraged me to save all my drawings/artworks so that I can look back at them in the future. That I did and I am grateful for his advice and guidance.

4. One of my first jobs was a result of my uncle (Rory Carridice) boasting about my skills to his friends in the community and one business owner commissioned me to show my skills by doing a mural in the bar. This was a significant moment and it propelled my popularity throughout the community and influenced me creating more artworks throughout the community. This even lead to me working as a Chemical Laboratory Technician because one of the murals that I created on the main street was seen by one of the “community giants”. This individual (Desmond Henry) deduced that I was a “brilliant mind” and gave me the opportunity to exercise the scientist I was developing into (post-high school/pre-university).

5. My aunt (Jillian Carter) encouraged me to establish my brand/business using my name and this is why my business/brand is “YanqueYipART”.

6. Neville Thompson, my art teacher for 7 years, saw my ability to become a great artist from my early years in high school and made the bold statement that “I possessed the innate abilities and mind to ascend to levels like Leonardo DaVinci.” I went forward to become a confident student in Visual Arts and I was an apprentice to Neville Thompson during the summer holidays at his art business.

7. Currently, there are some important people that have been encouraging me to level-up. These are people like Delroy Bicknell and the “TRIBE”, Jermaine Gonzales (my sprint coach).

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yanqueyipart

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yanqueyip

Twitter: https://x.com/YanqueYip

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yanque.yip

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@yanqueyipart