8 Questions with Yunqi Yang
Yunqi Yang is a photographer, videographer, visual designer, and multidisciplinary artist. She received her MFA in Photo/Video and Related Media from the School of Visual Arts. As an artist who cares about environmental issues, she wants to remind the viewer of the beauty of nature and to realize the unconscious and inseparable relationship between people, the natural environment, and technology.
Yunqi Yang - Portrait
ARTIST STATEMENT
She wants her work to raise awareness of environmental issues such as environmental pollution by using video collages, which consist of paintings and photo collages. Moreover, her installation means creating an immersive experience for the viewer. She wants to invite the viewers to experience or have fun in her work and remind people of the importance of nature in people's daily lives and nature's beauty.
The natural environment inspires the creative process. It begins with painted flowers, which are then photographed and used as the base of the collage. Flora is selected as the focal point to ideally represent nature: they are beautiful and fragile. Acrylic paint is used because it is thicker, dries fast, and creates more texture than other mediums. This helps retain as much detail as possible, as some will get lost in the process of photographing, and materially grounds the work, which is otherwise highly digital. People and animals are sourced from online searches, emphasizing the importance and everyday use of digital versions of natural objects in contemporary society. These images deliberately look out of place, again highlighting the gap between the natural and the digital.
In history, Utopian Communities have always failed. She wants my work to remind people of the dystopian reality, which raises the issue of environmental problems. The hyper-realistic aesthetic of my utopian gardens exposes a crack in this so-called utopia garden, revealing an imperfect solution to the more familiar global crisis of environmental pollution and calling attention to a more sinister underlying problem.
Highways, Mixed Media, 5x7 in, 2021 © Yunqi Yang
INTERVIEW
First of all, introduce yourself to our readers. What is your background, and when did you start experimenting with art?
I’m Yunqi Yang, a visual designer and multidisciplinary artist who also cares about environmental issues. My grandfather is a Chinese water-ink painter, and I grew up with my grandparents, so I think it started a long time ago.
How has your artistic practice evolved over the years?
I first started with only black/white photography, then I began to explore acrylic paint and then digital arts.
Swimming Pools, Mixed Media, 5x7 in, 2021 © Yunqi Yang
Unititled#3, Mixed Media, 2019-2020 © Yunqi Yang
You work with different mediums, such as photography, graphic design, and installation. How do you choose which medium to use for a specific project?
That’s a good question. I don’t think mediums matter to me that much unless it’s a requirement.
Where do you get your inspiration from? And what would you like the viewers to experience with your works?
In the process of creating my works, I like to find inspiration from the natural environment, which is something that’s beautiful, powerful, and is also so close to us. I chose flowers as my primary painting project because I think flowers ideally represent nature, and those flowers are beautiful and fragile, which is a lot like nature. Flowers bloom and wither away, but will nature stay the same?
Zoomed Out Highways, Mixed Media, 5x7 in, 2021 © Yunqi Yang
What is your creative process like? Could you walk us through a day in your studio?
I first start by painting flowers with acrylic paint, then I photograph my paintings and use them as the base of my collages. Floras are selected as the focal point of the collages because I think they ideally represent nature: they are beautiful and fragile. I use acrylic paint because it is thicker, dries fast, and can create more texture compared with other mediums. This is important to retain as much detail as possible, as some will get lost in the process of photographing the paintings. It’s also important to me to ground the work, which is highly digital, in physical materials and handmade processes.
I am adding “characters” to my garden scenes, such as people and animals. Choosing to source those elements from online searches emphasizes the importance and reliance of online searches and the everyday use of digital versions of natural objects in contemporary society. These images deliberately look out of place, emphasizing the gap between the natural and the digital while also calling attention to the importance of and reliance on online searches and the everyday use of digital versions of natural objects in contemporary society.
Untitled #2, Mixed Media, 2019-2020 © Yunqi Yang
The environment and environmental issues are key themes in your work. How do you work on those themes, and how do you incorporate them into your production?
I want my work to remind people of the dystopian reality, which raises the issue of a different environmental concern—digital pollution—which is hiding in plain sight in my works. The hyper-realistic aesthetic of my work exposes a crack in this so-called utopia garden, revealing an imperfect solution to the more familiar global environmental pollution crisis and implies a more sinister underlying problem. Instead of living at the expense of nature, can humans live in harmony with nature?
Climate changes are an urgent issue we need to address globally. In general, what can be done more, and how can we raise awareness on such themes through art?
I think as more and more artists start to concentrate on the subject, people will be more aware of the issue.
As a young artist yourself, what do you think of the recent changes in the art world? Do you think that the shift to digital exhibitions or new mediums like NFTs are helping artists spread their work?
I think NFTs are helping artists spend their work. I encourage every artist to get to know more about NTFs if they have the opportunity.
