I realized just yesterday that I'd arrived at a major milestone and wanted to write a bit about the past several years, both to recap for myself and to share with those who aren't familiar with my journey.
Apologies to those who are only here for the creative coding - I’ll get back on that topic next time :)
Exactly one year ago, I parted ways with the smart home lighting company Nanoleaf. During my time there, I was a Quality Assurance intern (2018), Product Engineer intern (2019), and Product Manager (2020-2024), although frequently playing the role of software developer whenever I made the time. My programming skills grew immensely throughout the course of my 16 month internship thanks to the fun and brilliant mentorship of Aliakbar Eski. As an intern, I conceptualized and developed the cross-platform software library that would become the core of the Screen Mirror technology, which now exists in the Nanoleaf Desktop App as well as the product Nanoleaf 4D. I'm still quite proud of that piece of software, and when departing the company it was one of the only experiences in my life where I felt legitimately sentimental for code that I'd written. As strange as that might sound to some folks, I know there's a decent number of artists that will read this - it feels similarly to when a painting that you're really proud of finally gets bought and you have to part with it.
When briefly talking about my time at the company, I almost always focus on the software that I developed despite my title being Product Manager, which probably tells you a bit about where my passions lie. I managed partnerships and collaborative development efforts with all the big names in the consumer tech landscape, pioneering products built on the Thread mesh networking technology and Matter smart home protocol. I juggled the priorities of R&D for my products across embedded, mobile, and cloud, and participated heavily in technical and UX discussions. I bridged marketing and sales with the dev team, and worked directly with users through our beta testing program for our Matter-compatible lights and the advanced audio visualization software Nanoleaf Orchestrator. I was quite good at all of this, but I wasn't passionate about it. I learned that I largely derive satisfaction from projects where my direct contributions across a variety of areas are concrete and evident - managing the work of others, as important as it may be in an organization, doesn't really do it for me. Conceptualization, design, implementation, and testing are all steps in the process that I enjoy, and unfortunately there's seldom a role at any company that allows one to meaningfully contribute every step of the way.
So, I left. First, tapering down to being a part-time PM, and then fully departing on August 15th, 2024.
One year in, it's already been a pretty wild ride.
I dove straight into freelance software development, primarily contributing to the interactive real-time 2D/3D software AAASeed with the project Artcast4D. I immersed myself in Toronto's arts community, focusing on new media and experimental institutions and events such as InterAccess, UKAI Projects, and Exit Points. I expanded my use of creative technology into an interactive arts practice, with my works presented in various galleries and festivals. I've developed and run a self-hosted workshop on privacy-centric local AI models, given a talk on the open source software suite MediaPipe at PROGRAM, and started publishing an educational newsletter on creative coding (which has taken a bit of a backseat during the residency that I'm on currently - more on that in a moment). I built myself a new portfolio website from scratch to better present my current projects and aesthetic preferences. I've continued with my photography, periodically doing portraits and concert photos. I even took on some work as a floral assistant for a close friend who needed an extra set of hands.
Most recently, I've joined the non-profit cultural organization UKAI Projects as XR Development Lead. Our mission is "culture for what's coming". Quoting an excerpt from our About page:
Although often invisible, culture shapes the ways in which we perceive and interact with the world around us. Culture includes:
beliefs and values
customs
symbols and language
objects and spaces
institutions
art and literature
technology and tools
rituals
At UKAI, we seek and test out approaches to culture that make sense of the world we are creating and handing down to future generations.
We call this work cultural research and development, and just like R&D in other fields, we are trying to make things better. In our case, we are trying to build resilience to massive volatility and change.
I'm writing this from a room on the 9th floor of an apartment complex in Hsinchu, Taiwan - my home for August 2025. UKAI Projects was selected to participate in a residency with the Art Site of Railway Warehouse, hosted by the Accton Arts Foundation and with support from the Canada Council for the Arts. We launched an independent initiative called the Cultural Technologies Lab with the goals of facilitating idea exchange, amplifying local practices, and refining solutions to specific contexts. I've been carrying out cultural research while I'm here with a number of interviews with locals, immersing myself in the local scene, and will be delivering a workshop on networked collaboration for artists at the end of the month.
Despite the laundry list of "accomplishments", I'm most proud of the people I've met and how I've been able to spend my time. I measure value in my life by the relationships I develop and the impact of my actions, and from that angle I feel that I've created more value in the last year than in my entire career prior. I'm truly happy with the way I'm living my life, always striving to make things better for others and myself.
As for what's coming next:
UKAI has multiple projects and events on the horizon, some launching globally and at least one larger-scale event in Hsinchu, Taiwan in late November 2025.
I'm developing and delivering two workshops at InterAccess in September and October 2025.
I'm working with artist/educator Tara Rose Morris to develop a 12-week new media intensive course, planned to be delivered in Spring 2026.
I'm building an app for digital artists to creatively integrate computer vision into their existing software workflows.
Several collaborative projects that I won't discuss until they materialize further :)
Details on all of the above to follow.
Amidst the chaos of the world, ongoing atrocities, and what seems like an increasingly uncertain future, I am happy with what I'm doing. I hope you are too, and if not, that you make the changes you need to (as scary as they may be!) to make a better life for yourself and those around you.
Thank you to everyone who has believed in me, supported my work, worked with me, and helped me grow. Thank you to all of the new, wonderful friends I've made along the way. Nothing truly great ever happens in isolation.
Quote:
"Good morning, me.
Did you sleep well?
And did you wake up well?
Does the light and the wind, the air and the smell, all feel brand new?
Is each and every cell in your body awake now?
Today, you are who you are today.
You are a newer version of me."
~ (young Faye Valentine), Ep. 18, Cowboy Bebop
Album of the week: “The Clod” (2023) by No Party For Cao Dong
Thank you to my new Taiwanese friend Jung for the music recommendation :)
If you have any feedback or questions about this or any other post (or just want to say hi!), I’m always happy to chat. Thank you for taking the time to read!