Updated article – 05/27/25
Geometric shapes and colors in motion aim to capture the fluidity and dynamism found in the flight of birds or the movement of fish. The mind behind this artistic work is Jason Ting, who uses code to create digital images that seek to convey the essence of these natural elements.
Ting’s work focuses on capturing the essence of natural motion—like the flow of waves or the shifting colors of a sunset. Through programming, the artist creates visual compositions inspired by natural landscapes. In the case of a beach sunset, Ting moves away from figurative representation and concentrates solely on the interaction of elements such as light, wave behavior, and the way birds blend into their environment.
In each image, Ting explores how elements like light and movement influence our emotions. This relationship connects him to artists like Mark Rothko and even James Turrell. His work represents an ongoing exploration of the emotional impact of movement and light. Drawing primary inspiration from nature and utilizing technology as a medium, Ting manages to craft a visual proposal that feels truly innovative.
How did you become interested in art?
Jason Ting: Yeah, I think I’ve always been creative as a kid. I always liked to draw and play with Legos and build things, make things, break things. My mom was a computer programmer, so that kind of had an influence as I was growing up.
I remember one time she brought home a computer one day, and then it was a really old, well it was new back then, right? It’s the kind where, you know, the big floppy disks, like the five and a quarter.
I learned how to program there. Like I remember having a book about BASIC, the programming language, and then I copied games from there and then started making my own like ASCII art and making the computer beep, make funny like melodies.
so I think that’s when it first clicked for me that I could use the code, use code and computers as like a creative medium. So, yeah, during like high school, I was more on a science kind of track. But then in university, I did a computing arts program, which was visual arts, but using technology, using computers. So that kind of brought me back to my childhood days of like, yeah, making just fun things using technology, yeah, as the medium.
Then I graduated, had to, you know to make money to survive. So I did software engineering. I was like, what I, how to do, I did a lot of web development, a lot of iOS mobile development when the iPhone came out. Yeah, but then just like a few years ago, I needed a change.
Your work evokes a sense of calm in the viewer — could you explain why that might be?
Jason Ting: Yeah, maybe you’re seeing like the recent post with a lot of particles and kind of… Yeah, I think I was really fascinated by science and like astronomy, outer space as a, as a kid. And so like, you know, everything is made up of these elementary particles and how they interact with one another. So even thinking about how, how stars form, like, you know, yeah, like, these elementary elements, like, forming, like, heavy, heavy metals, and then they, like, you know, generate light. So in the same way, using the particle as kind of the to create art. Much like painters use brushes and different paint styles to create their work.
I’m using particles and the way they interact and move together. Yeah, you see it in flocking of birds like swarms of fish, that kind of thing. Like when it’s just one, you don’t really see a pattern but when you see them in like you know thousands, millions, it can really evoke something powerful. Like wonder and like, yeah, just like beauty in a new way. So I think, yeah, inspired by nature a lot and like both the macro, like the outer space scale, and then like, what if you zoom in under a microscope, what might you see under the microscope? Like that kind of stuff too.
We’ve noticed a strong use of geometry and light in your work. Where does this interest come from?
Jason Ting: I remember in college I went to UC San Diego and it’s kind of by the beach, so I spend a lot of time looking at sunsets over the water, and it would be very relaxing, calming for me. And I was just kind of remembering and wondering, like, oh, why is that? There’s a meditative motion to the waves, and then there’s a subtle color gradient that changes over time. And so I think that really inspired my work of like using lights, also in motion to kind of convey emotions and like it being transforming over time kind of affects how you how you feel at a certain moment, you know, the sun like very bright versus at sunset, for example.
I think I just remember those moments being very important for me to disconnect from maybe what I was thinking about, like work or stress or school, just having moments of peace. So yeah, I think every time, you know, I don’t want to spend too much time in front of my computer, I have to go outside, you know, find some nature. So I think I try to create my art in that same way to evoke those same feelings of calm, of peace, of beauty.
Would you describe yourself as a calm person, or is your art a way for you to find calm?
Jason Ting that’s a good question. I think my temperament is generally calm. I think though, like maybe my mind can be like very busy, but I think, so I create a digital sketch every day and I kind of consider that as a meditative practice, that it kind of slows me down and helps me focus. I can’t think about anything else. I just have to like, you know,look at the art as I’m creating it.
I think of it more as like, I’m trying to discover something beautiful. And so I’m kind of wandering and looking and then attempting to find and then I find something. But it takes me time to be quiet and be still. And yeah, sitting still doesn’t work for me a lot. I think I’m very visually attuned. So having something I’m engaging with my eyes, my brain just kind of, yeah, is able to be more calm in that way. So maybe similar to when I was talking about nature like the ocean and the sunset, that kind of thing. It’s a similar feeling.
Your art feels meditative. When you’re creating, do you experience a kind of flow state?
Jason Ting: I think there are many, probably many different definitions of what meditation is formally or informally. Yeah, it’s like kind of finding that, finding that flow, finding that beauty and not being too forceful with it, even. I know some days I can be like, I just want to like, do this and get on with my day. But it’s, it’s part of the process to be patient with, with myself and with artwork.
Would you say you’re a perfectionist, or are you more open to embracing changes as they happen in the process?
Jason Ting: I think when I was younger, I was definitely had a high standard for myself and I was probably, you know, impressed upon by my parents. Yeah, but I think, I think it’s been helpful doing this daily practice and framing it as sketches, you know, think of it as like a sketchbook in which like it’s just for for practice, it’s for fun, it’s for just getting ideas out. So I feel that there’s less pressure on myself for it to be like quote perfect or finished. I think of it as a practice of exploration and iteration. I can always, you know, come back to it tomorrow and push it a different direction. Yeah, when it comes to say, like presenting something more officially, yeah, I think I definitely want like things, I want to be happy with it basically. And like the feeling that gives me, so it’s like, is this done? And then if I say yes, then it’s done. Maybe not perfect, but it’s like, I think of it as a snapshot in time of what I was thinking and like my current practice and skills and that’s all I can give at the moment. You know, I can’t force it.
Which artists have influenced you?
Jason Ting: Let’s see, I’ll name a couple that have been inspiring recently. One is James Turrell. He works with Light with LOD. He’s a big fan of them. I’m a big fan of that. I think definitely the early work where I was very like light field focused, it was, yeah, I saw one of his exhibitions in Berlin, just like the Gansfeld, like light immersion color fields such that your senses are kind of overwhelmed by the color, you know? And yeah, I thought about like, what if it was emotion? What if it was kind of like a sunrise, sunset moment? How might that add an effect like the time based component to it? But I love like the other version of it as well.
So I think I, while my work is digital, and usually screen based, I was trying to think of like, how could I like, you know, get the viewer to be able to, to focus like, can be entranced, be, yeah, captivated by something that, yeah, that is natural, like, light is, like, where we live and, you know, grow up in these environments with light, and how might it be used to, you know, to tell a story, to affect people’s emotions. I did a series called Lux that was inspired heavily by Rothko and his color fields. And it’s also kind of in motion.
Another artist I had more recently heard about but have been inspired by is a Chinese artist named Sai Guo Qian. He works with fireworks, gunpowder, kind of these like very explosive material, but to create these compositions in the sky that are very ephemeral, but very, yeah, very beautiful using color and like smoke as a medium. So maybe you can see in the, my work with particles kind of having that same similar vibe of ephemerality, morphine changing. But yeah, also inspired by like all the nature space.
How do you see life right now — what’s your personal philosophy?
Jason Ting: physics, coding, what do artworks was around the idea of the flocking idea, like you see in birds or fish, like one, one particle or like one entity affects the others around it. And so for example, like which direction you go or like, are you trying to like, you know, create like some distance between one another? Are you like aligning more with one another?
And so it kind of makes me think about how we interact in the world with one another. Do we try to just like, you know, push people away? Or do we like try to get people to like believe our beliefs? Do we kind of make our own way, like go against the grain, you know? Yeah, it just makes me think of like the world we live in and how we interact with one another. And kind of the forms, like the beautiful forms that we can create together.I think that’s just one thought that is I’ve been thinking about for some time.
Since most of your work is digital, would you be interested in exploring it through physical formats?
Jason Ting: So a lot of my work is kind of created in three dimensions, but then, you know, video. And so that was a really cool opportunity. They reached out to me like they saw my work and it was very light-based and they thought it might be cool and like seeing it in three dimensions. But yeah, so designing or adapting my work for that was really, really cool because you don’t normally think about like what is like a light sculpture in 3D, but you can see the inside as well. And how does that, like, you know, the color, how it emanates.
So yeah, that was really cool. And I hope to do more of that in real life, I think. Like, as I was talking about James Turrell and like, you know, the immersive to it. Yeah, I think I want to create more spaces and places that people can like walk into.
And so I was in London, like maybe last, earlier this month and went to a show called, I think it was called thin air. It’s a bunch of light kind of installation artworks. And it was like big warehouse kind of scale. And I was really inspiring. I think one day I would love to do something, something like that using light and kind of physical light to create similar feelings I do with my digital screen-based work.
Last question, if you had the chance to speak to your younger self, what would you say?
Jason Ting: it would be related to the not being afraid. And that I think is like, like not being afraid to be yourself and the way that you express yourself in the world. And I think we like try to like cover up or like change our appearance to like fit in or be cool or or to follow the trends. But I think what the world really needs is us to be our full true selves. And when people experience that, it’s beautiful. You can’t say, you’re not you, because you are you. And so I feel like, in the way I’ve been able to express my creative side these past years, I think that’s kind of alignment of who I am and who I want to express myself to the world. And so I just tell my younger self, be yourself and don’t be afraid.
