Shaun Tan Quotes

Powerful Shaun Tan for Daily Growth

About Shaun Tan

Shaun Tan is an acclaimed Australian artist, writer, and filmmaker whose work spans the fields of literature, film, visual art, and music. Born in 1974 in Fremantle, Western Australia, Tan developed a deep love for storytelling from a young age, often drawing inspiration from his family's migration from Malaysia to Australia when he was seven years old. Tan gained international recognition with the publication of "The Red Tree" (2001), a wordless graphic novel that tells a poignant and surreal tale about a girl dealing with her fears. The book, like much of Tan's work, explores themes of loneliness, loss, and the human condition through striking imagery and innovative storytelling. In 2004, Tan published "The Arrival," a graphic novel that tells the story of an immigrant navigating an alien land, which was met with widespread critical acclaim. The book won numerous awards, including the prestigious Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story. In 2006, it was adapted into a short film, which Tan co-directed, and went on to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Tan's other notable works include "The Lost Thing" (2000), a story about a boy who discovers a mysterious creature and decides to help it find its place in the world; and "Rules of Summer" (2016), a beautifully illustrated exploration of childhood memories. Throughout his career, Tan has been influenced by a diverse range of artists, writers, and filmmakers, including Maurice Sendak, Antoni Gaudí, Hayao Miyazaki, and Chris Marker. His unique style, characterized by intricate illustrations and thought-provoking narratives, has earned him a devoted following around the world.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"I think it's important to let images do their own work."

Shaun Tan's quote, "I think it's important to let images do their own work," emphasizes the power and autonomy of visual art in storytelling and communication. It suggests that images can evoke emotions, provoke thoughts, and convey messages without needing explicit verbal explanations. In essence, this quote underscores the significance of trusting the viewer's imagination to interpret and engage with an image on its own terms.

"Stories are a way for us to make sense of the world and our place in it."

Stories, as per this quote by Shaun Tan, serve as a means for humans to interpret and understand the intricacies of the world around them, helping us find our place within that vast landscape. By exploring fictional narratives, we can reflect on our own experiences, learn from the perspectives of others, and gain insights into the human condition. Essentially, stories are our personal maps guiding us through life's complexities.

"When I start a project, I'm always aware that I don't really know where it is going to go."

This quote highlights the essence of creativity and exploration. Shaun Tan acknowledges that when embarking on a new creative project, he embraces the uncertainty, recognizing that the outcome may deviate from his initial expectations. This mindset encourages flexibility, adaptability, and discovery throughout the creative process. It underscores the idea that the journey of creation often leads to unexpected destinations, making it an exciting adventure with endless possibilities.

"The world is so much more mysterious without maps."

The quote by Shaun Tan, "The world is so much more mysterious without maps," suggests that knowing every detail about a place or situation can diminish the allure of discovery and exploration. It implies that not having maps or complete knowledge allows us to appreciate the unknown, fostering curiosity, wonder, and imagination. In essence, it's a reminder that ignorance can often stimulate our desire to learn, explore, and connect with the world around us.

"I think the best work happens when you're not sure where you are heading."

Shaun Tan suggests that the most impactful creative work often originates from a place of uncertainty or exploration, rather than a fixed destination. This perspective underscores the value of curiosity and flexibility in the creative process, implying that the journey towards completion is just as important as the final product itself. By embracing ambiguity and allowing ideas to develop organically, artists can foster originality and discovery in their work.

I became more interested in the idea of being an immigrant and particularly of being in a country you're not familiar with. And so I began reading migrants' stories. The fact that my father is Chinese - he emigrated from Malaysia when he was about 20 - may have had some bearing on my attraction to the subject.

- Shaun Tan

Country, Some, Became, Chinese

It's only a very small percentage of creative thinking that ends up connecting with a wider audience, and even then, any success is quite unpredictable.

- Shaun Tan

Small, Very, Wider, Percentage

As a younger person, I was obsessed with Ray Bradbury, and I think his stories did more to shape me as a storyteller than anybody else - even though, when I read them now, a lot of them seem overly sentimental. But that's probably the writer that I've thought about the most, even though I don't necessarily like a lot of his work.

- Shaun Tan

Thought, I Think, Anybody, Overly

I actually started out as a writer and then converted to illustration because I realised that there was a dearth of good illustrators in genre fiction, at least in Australia at that time.

- Shaun Tan

Fiction, Realised, Dearth, Illustration

Illustrating is more about communicating specific ideas to a reader. Painting is more like pure science, more about the act of painting.

- Shaun Tan

Painting, Act, Like, Illustrating

Seeing your work in print is exciting, especially when you're young. It's that feeling that you have some effect on the world outside of your immediate neighbourhood.

- Shaun Tan

Work, Young, Some, Neighbourhood

My friend Markus Zusak wrote a story from the point of view of death, 'The Book Thief.' I thought that's a great idea, where your omniscient narrator is death. I'm glad he had that idea because I wouldn't have been able to work so well with it.

- Shaun Tan

Death, Thought, Been, Narrator

By itself, just to draw crazy creatures has limited appeal - if I had to give up one thing, it would be the wild imagination. When the work becomes too detached from ordinary life, it starts to fall apart. Fantasy needs to have some connection with reality, or it becomes of its own interest only, insular.

- Shaun Tan

Own, Some, Had, Insular

The detail adds an element of unexpected something. All fiction is false; what makes it convincing is that it runs alongside the truth. The real world has lots of incidental details, so a painting also has to have that element of imperfection and irregularity, those incidental details.

- Shaun Tan

Unexpected, Fiction, Imperfection

When I was growing up, a lot of books affected me, but I never wrote letters to the author or anything like that. I'm always mindful that there are probably a whole bunch of people reading my books like that, too.

- Shaun Tan

Anything, Whole, Lot, Letters

The audience for comics has shifted dramatically. And the boundaries between books and fine arts have blurred. Maybe it's the globalization of fine art through the Internet - it's easy for certain groups to coalesce around a certain kind of work or medium.

- Shaun Tan

Through, Maybe, Comics, Dramatically

I think 'The Road' is a good example of a book everyone should read, but I wouldn't recommend it to young kids.

- Shaun Tan

Think, I Think, Read, Young Kids

I like the idea of contained emotion because I grew up most of my life feeling that way. As an adolescent, people would always say I was not expressive, and they always made the mistake of thinking that I didn't feel anything because I didn't react to things.

- Shaun Tan

My Life, Feel, Idea, Adolescent

Animals represent the abstract notion of acceptance. Living with these funny creatures - you kind of have to accept them. It's like a test in a way.

- Shaun Tan

Living, Test, Creatures, Represent

You discover how confounding the world is when you try to draw it. You look at a car, and you try to see its car-ness, and you're like an immigrant to your own world. You don't have to travel to encounter weirdness. You wake up to it.

- Shaun Tan

Discover, Own, Like, Encounter

Drawing a good picture is like telling a really good lie - the key is in the incidental detail.

- Shaun Tan

Drawing, Like, Telling, Key

Perhaps the writer I've read the most of is Haruki Murakami, the Japanese writer, but I wouldn't necessarily say he's a favourite. I read him because I find his work so intriguing, but I don't necessarily feel I would follow this writer to the ends of the earth.

- Shaun Tan

Him, Feel, Necessarily, Intriguing

Good and bad ideas both come from the same fountain of speculation and experiment.

- Shaun Tan

Fountain, Same, Speculation, Bad Ideas

I always overwrite - really awful, long bits of script - and then I trim it down to the bare bones and then add a little bit to colour it in. At the end of all of my stories, I test for wordless comprehension. So I remove the text and see if it works by itself. And if it does, I feel that that's a successful story.

- Shaun Tan

Feel, Works, Awful, Remove

The more I draw and write, the more I realise that accidents are a necessary part of any creative act, much more so than logic or wisdom. Sometimes a mistake is the only way of arriving at an original concept, and the history of successful inventions is full of mishaps, serendipity and unintended results.

- Shaun Tan

Concept, Part, Creative Act, Unintended

Sometimes I write captions on the in-flight magazines and then replace them in the seat pocket.

- Shaun Tan

Sometimes, Seat, I Write, Pocket

The text illustrates the pictures - it provides a connective tissue for me. I usually refine the text last, partly because pictures are harder to do, so it's easier to edit words - I use text as grout in between the tiles of the pictures.

- Shaun Tan

Last, Use, Edit, Tissue

Like all of my previous work - which I also hope is a bit hard to categorise - 'The Oopsatoreum' is an illustrated book, so a combination of words and pictures that tell a kind of story.

- Shaun Tan

Like, Which, Previous, Combination

Whenever I start a project, I have a broad range of possibilities.

- Shaun Tan

Possibilities, Whenever, Broad

It was better to be known as the kid who could draw than as the short kid.

- Shaun Tan

Better, Could, Known, Draw

For myself, I've kind of always been interested in pets because they're not human.

- Shaun Tan

Kind, Always, Been, Pets

I get very creative when I'm trapped in a plane and I can't do anything else.

- Shaun Tan

Trapped, Very, Else, Plane

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