When Life Took a Turn, Art Led the Way
- Faye Z
- Feb 4
- 2 min read
Updated: Feb 4
"Life really does begin at 40. Up until then, you are just doing research."— Carl Jung
Hello, I’m Faye, the founder of Artbeat Academe. I’m a mother, a cat lover, and someone who has spent much of her life searching for what truly gives life meaning. I was born and raised in China, and since 2008, Australia has been my home.
In 2019, I lost a dear family member. This traumatic experience made me rethink what truly matters in life. In search of meaning and a way to process my pain, I immersed myself in reading, meditation retreats, and spiritual workshops. I felt a deep urge to make sense of my suffering and transform it into purpose.
Along the way, I met like-minded people and eventually co-founded Artbeat Academe, an art centre in Eastwood, NSW. My business partner and I hoped the art centre would pave the way for a nonprofit in the future, and we were both deeply committed to help others to effect positive changes for their lives.
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of other—Mahatma Gandhi
Despite our shared values and genuine passion for helping others, my partner and I eventually went down different paths. We both carried our own unprocessed traumas, and as much as we liked to believe we could help others create positive change, we struggled to change ourselves.
This experience was fundamental to my understanding of healing and self-growth. I came to realise that intellectually knowing something doesn’t mean you can truly live it. A whole world of past experiences lies hidden beneath our conscious mind, and sometimes, the mind alone isn’t powerful enough to turn us into the person we aspire to be.
Though our partnership ended, the journey that inspired Artbeat Academe never did. If anything, it deepened. I found myself drawn to a more feminine, embodied approach to healing—one that doesn’t just exist in the mind but reaches the deeper, unspoken parts of who we are.
My passion for humanity, philosophy, psychology, mindfulness, and art education converged, and for the first time, I clearly saw the path that felt right.
Today, as I step into my 40s, I’m grateful for every twist and turn that has shaped my journey. I am especially thankful for the challenges that led me to the path I’m on now. I’ve returned to university to study art therapy and am training to become an MBSR teacher, finally finding the sense of meaning I’ve been searching for.
I hope to one day help transform the way art is taught in the education system, so every child can experience its healing power. I believe that integrating mindfulness and art can help young people accelerate their path of life research, as Jung termed it, and move sooner into the stage of living it.
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