Meet Yuchong Lu

We recently connected with Yuchong Lu and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Yuchong, 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 grew up in a system during its rising period, the globalization. I got to experience the world by myself when I was 14, away from my parents and everything I was familiar with, I met this world again and again with new perspective each time. Throughout my time here, my worldview was shaped uniquely, unlike any of peers we were monocultural. I believe it is invaluable.

In that process, I found a kind of purpose rooted not in achievement, but in love, a deep, steady love for the act of creating and for the quiet dignity of simply existing. It gave me an inner peace that doesn’t rely on wealth, power, or recognition.

I believe art should return to its original form: a “meaningless” act that exists beyond survival instincts, something that reminds us we are more than animals. As technology accelerates and politics becomes more chaotic and over-saturated, this kind of creation becomes even more vital.

Spring always comes after winter. I don’t know what the future holds, but I know that making art with honesty and love is my way of holding on to what truly matters.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

As an artist, my creation and my identity are inseparable. Art is not just what I do, it’s how I process the world, and express my understanding of it. I am a nonprofessional illustrator, I mainly use traditional materials, and partially multimedia, mixing traditional and digital creations. I try all forms of visual arts, forcing myself to break limits. My artworks include sketches, paintings, murals, and tattoos, I pursue new possibility of visual effects.

Myths and folklores, primarily those of East Asia, strongly inspire my creation. I gather those cultural symbols and rebuild them like puzzles to form my personal world of fantasy. Art perfectly suits my adventurous personality, my constant desire to improve my skills of expression and to articulate feelings that can be expressed across nations and cultures. The process of designing or reconstructing a character’s image and historical scenes is always the most enjoyable part to me, especially the mythology that I am familiar with since childhood.
I imagine the relationship between gods, deities and demons as merciless, primitive and natural, just like the era in which their myths were born. I look to illustrate the sense of pre-modernism in my projects of Chinese mythology, to reconstruct a world that once coexisted with the land of my ancestors, a reification of their beliefs before Confuciusist politics and Western colonization. In order to make the illustrations realistic and accurate, I dove into various independent studies and research in the fields of religions, literature, history and cultures, even languages and etymology, combining them with my own understanding, echoing the visual with the text. As an artist, I am always pleased to see how the traditional culture I am familiar with is coexisting in new interpretation with a modern art style- my style.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Sensitivity, have awareness of any momental inspiration or any change of social environment. Have some faith in love, don’t let go those who love you in a sinking world.
2. Political awareness, read news and reflect, remember that humanity is about caring the minority and not blindly following the authority, although it is our natural instinct. Art is the greatest and sometimes the only weapon against political oppression.
3. Keep your mind open, receive information from multiple perspectives, do not let algorithms jail your eyes and ears.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

Identity issue is definitely my biggest concern at this point, it is determined by policy makers who are very unpredictable. It is like an investment, we need to evaluate the market before investing. I suggest anyone with similar experience or just in general, don’t put all the eggs in one basket, always consider having a plan B for backup.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: hanz_041210