I grew up in Beijing as an only child in a generation of only children. Blessed with an overactive imagination, I loved to draw, dance and create. But somewhere between unkind remarks and academic pressure, I left that part of me behind.

My family immigrated to Canada in 2001, when I was 17. I understood quickly that succeeding in a new country meant choosing a profession, and I set my sights on becoming an actuary. I earned a degree in statistics, became a qualified actuary, worked internationally, and eventually became a vice president at a global reinsurer. It was a successful career by many measures, but over time I began to question what I was building my life around. Was my work’s only purpose “maximizing shareholder value”?

The need to create had slowed to a trickle, then a drip. Then after a second life-altering incident, it all came flooding back. Over the past ten years, I have continued to write, create and pursue projects—even without an audience, even when accountable only to myself—simply because making things gives me a sense of fulfillment nothing else can.

Make Good Art is a record of that ongoing practice—and of what comes next. As I leave behind a career in insurance and devote myself more fully to filmmaking, visual art and other forms of creative expression, this site documents both the work I have made and my continued growth as a multidisciplinary artist.

Jing Lang