Moxie
1issue eaturing
Shirley Xing Ivy Wei
Anna Sophia Dao
Cover Art By Shirley Xing
Shirley Xing
Shirley Xing is a Vancouver based artist, dancer, and model. Starting from a young age, she has been using watercolours, acrylics, and other mediums to express her creativity. Shirley’s artistic journey is deeply intertwined with her passion for dance, serving as both a muse and a driving force behind her creative expressions. From her early years, she discovered a profound connection between movement and art, finding that each medium allowed her to convey different facets of her emotions and experiences.
Through her paintings, Shirley translates the fluidity and grace of dance onto canvas, capturing the essence of movement through bold strokes and vibrant colors. Whether it's the sweeping arcs of a ballerina's pirouette or the dynamic energy of a hip-hop routine, each brushstroke reflects her intimate understanding of the body in motion.
Beyond personal expression, Shirley's art also serves as a bridge between the worlds of dance and visual arts, allowing her to explore the intersections between these two disciplines. Her interdisciplinary approach enables her to push the boundaries of both mediums, experimenting with techniques and concepts that blur the lines between movement and stillness, form and color.
Growing up in a resourceful and open environment in Taiwan, I’ve had numerous experiences and opportunities to learn different subjects, skills and talents. During 9th grade, I joined a volunteering activity, teaching kids from rural areas English. From this experience, I understand the challenges these children faces, they lack the resource, the experience and a prepared environment to aid their educational development. Therefore, me and my friends started a volunteer group called Bloom the Broods that will host summer camps in rural elementary schools to teach the children knowledge and skills more than English. We aim to increase their awareness on global topics such as Ukrainian Russia war, global warming, ai technology, and crypto currency, opening up their view and helping them understand the current challenges.
Ivy
Wei
Furthermore, we wish to teach them essential skills that they will need in the future, including public speaking, presentation, debate and more. Through this summer camp we tried to make every kids not only enjoy their time here but also learn as much from us, becoming a more globalized and unique student in their classroom. As teachers, we loved to accompany these kids and we’re honored to be able to share our knowledge and what we learned to them. Currently, we have worked with more than 5 schools and we will be continuing to expand our program, bringing our influence to more schools and students! We wish these students will keep on learning and experiencing, actively accessing new opportunities and moving on on their educational journey!
Anna Sophia Dao
When first starting a small business, I had a lot of help from a friend. She had her own small business and gave me tips on how to market and create my brand. My small business most definitely would not have been as successful without her mentorship. I want to pay that forward and be the mentor to those who can benefit from the lessons I've learned while running my small business.
I also thought about when the Maui Wildfires occurred, and how my school partnered with Aloha United Way to raise money to help out in donating to the families of Lahaina. However, the fundraiser only lasted a week.
I find that after a few months of a natural disaster occurring, we tend to forget about the destruction and families who are suffering. We've moved on, but they're still struggling. We need to continue thinking about the destruction caused by the fires and do our part in ensuring everyone has the necessities to be safe.
That said, 50% of all profit from these products will be going to Hawaii Community Foundation's Maui Strong fund and the rest of the profit will go to the owner of the business you buy from so that they can continue to learn and grow.
So go take a look at all our small businesses and show them some love! Happy shopping!
Moxie 03.30.24