Rising Stars: Meet Andrew Tripp

Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Tripp. 

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up as an artist, with a musician as an older brother, so fine art has always been a part of my daily routine. I never really established myself as an aspiring artist until Middle School, when I started coming to terms with my identity as Transgender, which greatly impacted a lot of my inspiration and subjects. I didn’t have the greatest family acceptance when I first came out at 14, so I am very close to the small group of friends I have, but thankfully my family has grown a lot more accepting over the years. 

As a professional artist now trying to establish my place in the world, it’s been really interesting to reflect on what has made me into the artist I am and how I can bring more of my personal experiences into my art! 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Not at all; my parents weren’t initially accepting at all and got super religious with our family in general- started making us (me specifically) go to church and would tell me that being Trans isn’t “how god made me,” etc. 

From my mom’s perspective, what changed her mind was that she would rather have me alive and being myself than gone as someone I never wanted to be. 

There are a lot of mental struggles I’ve also dealt with my whole life, depression specifically, as well as anxiety and basically trying to figure out how to operate in a very neurotypical world. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m currently a senior at College for Creative Studies in the Illustration department! I specialize in poster illustration and graphic design at the moment, but this year I will be exploring pattern creation and surface area design which is really exciting. I’m most proud of a series I did in 2021 based on the idea of a human having a planet for a head because I thought it was a cool idea! I really enjoy creating images that can stand alone but also be a part of a larger, more subtle story. 

We’d love to hear about what you think about risk taking.
I am all for taking risks if the result is worth it and the plan is well thought out! I’m someone who needs to consider multiple angles of a problem before acting; that’s how I have always been. If the risk won’t hurt anybody intentionally in the end and the end result is beneficial to your life, then go for it! 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celestial_space_bee/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrew.tripp.14
• Other: https://www.redbubble.com/people/MarkSepticArt/shop?utm_source=rb-native-app&utm_campaign=share-artist&utm_medium=ios