Victo Ngai

b. 1988

Victo Ngai (倪傳婧), was born in South China in 1988 in Guangdong Province. Ngai grew up in British colonized Hong Kong before enrolling in Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 2006. She shortened her name to "Victo" from "Victoria" - a name she considers leftover from the British colonization of Hong Kong. Until the age of 6, Ngai would be plagued by fevers that induced near-fatal seizures. With nowhere else to turn, Ngai's mother turned to herbal treatments to cure her. It was at this point that Ngai's mother recognized her daughter's artistic talent, and so, she took Ngai to a private art teacher in Shenzen. Ngai would build incredibly on her skills and in 2006 she applied, and was accepted, into RISD, the only school she applied to. At RISD, Ngai was heavily inspired by her professor, editorial illustrator, Chris Buzelli. Initially, Ngai struggled in Buzelli's editorial course, but when Buzelli had encouraged her to pursue the incredible line-work displayed in her sketchbooks, Ngai had an artistic breakthrough. Her work and signature neo-surrealistic style would soon become instantly recognizable to anyone who saw it. In Ngai's junior year of college, she landed her first client-[i]PLANSPONSOR Magazine[/i], art directed by SooJin Buzelli. Ngai's second client would be [i]The New York Times[/i]. Ngai would soon land several major clients including [i]The New Yorker[/i], [I]NBC[/I], [I]Dreamworks[/i], [i]Penguin Random House[/i], [i]Simon & Schuster[/i], [i]Apple[/i], and [i]American Express[/i]. Currently, Ngai works freelance out of Los Angeles. She taught at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City, and recently won gold for advertising at the Society of Illustrator's 61.