Meet Qianwen Yu

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Qianwen Yu. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Qianwen below.

Hi Qianwen, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I’ve always wanted to be an architecture designer since I was really young influenced by my father. He used to be an architect, but after me and my sister were born, he switched to Urban Planning within the system in order to have a more stable income. He has always hoped that one of us could become an architect to follow in his footsteps. I studied in urban design and architectural design in my undergrad. However, I found that architectural design is not what I imagined after I got to know it more. Many needs of clients must be taken into account during the designing, and there are many rules and limitations. Although I am still interested in space, structure and some design concepts in architecture, I have lost interest in things within the system, such as design within the system and art within the art system. I want to do something completely new and outside the system. So I finally decided to switch my major. At that time, I took an elective course of animation and fine arts, I had a preliminary understanding of animation arts and felt that its carrying capacity was relatively wide, including contemporary art, illustrations, movies, short films, and 3D. So Voila, contemporary arts!

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am an interdisciplinary artist and independent animator based in Chicago, I have a background in architecture and painting studies spanning several years. Following rigorous exam-oriented studies in architectural design and painting, I developed an interest in art that defies the established rules of my training while maintaining its influence. In 2018, upon arriving in Chicago I began experimenting with different materials and methods of animation.

I graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film, Video, New media, and Animation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2020. My artwork and animation have exhibited and screened at Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, Anifilm Festival in Czech Republic, Anibar International Film Festival in Kosovo, Supertoon International Festival in Croatia, and CICA museum in South Korea. My work have been featured in Art China, Chicago Chinese News, LA Post, China Southern Airline Magazine, Booooooom tv, Fiverr, Voicer. My clients include the Art Institute of Chicago, Sony Music Classical, Adult Swim, Fiverr, Armada Music, Warner Chappell Production Music, Carpark records, Conner Prairie Museum, Ports1961 etc.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Persistence, passion, networking.

After I graduated, I got to know animation better through the commissioned works and felt more confident and comfortable with it. We all know that it is extremely difficult to survive by doing only fine art, but animation is kind of in-between fine art and design, you can find commissions through advertising, music videos, film/television, and other industries.

The first one and a half years after graduation was the most stressful and difficult time. The year of graduation happened to be when the Covid-19 outbreak started, and everything seemed very hopeless. I submitted tons of job applications and barely got any responses around that time, and as a foreigner I also had to prepare my visa application through an attorney at the same time.

I basically just took all the work I could as long as it had a budget, even though I was not that interested, but due to the situation at the time I had no choice but to continue.

I have been running my own social account since I graduated, uploading new work, and constantly building up my own portfolio. Gradually, people came to me for work through Instagram and email, also on freelance websites like Fiverr.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
I am an animation freelancer and artist, and I graduated from School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s MFA program in 2020. Even though it’s a Film/animation program I didn’t make animated short films like most animation students, I spent most of my time in school doing weaving art which I also love.

But becoming an animation freelancer after I graduated gave me a second chance to get to know and learn more about animation, and to fall in love with it again. I still do some weaving works now and then, and for someone like me who is always changing I really enjoy jumping between these two art worlds, they nourish each other. When I feel tired in animation I jump into the textile world, drawing strength in one world, and then feeling renewed when I return to the other.

Looking back now, I think doing so is beneficial to my mental health too. Sometimes don’t put all your eggs in one basket, so that you won’t have expectations that are too high, and you will focus more on enjoying the process rather than being obsessed with the result.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Baiqian Zhang, Elliot Korte

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