Meet Yuhao Lin

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Yuhao Lin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Yuhao, sincerely appreciate your selflessness in agreeing to discuss your mental health journey and how you overcame and persisted despite the challenges. Please share with our readers how you overcame. For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.

I am a particularly nostalgic person, and whenever I enter a new environment or a new network of relationships it always makes me feel uneasy, so much so that I often immerse myself in memories of the past, or go looking for scenes and places that are familiar to me and that make me feel at ease.

When I came to London to study illustration alone, far away from home, this feeling of uneasiness strongly enveloped me, so I began to unconsciously connect some scenes of déjà vu with some past experiences, where memories overlapped and were misplaced, and the blurred scenes made it impossible for me to ever recall a fragment of the past in its entirety, while at the same time creating a connection of memories between different people.

I have tried to understand this psychological phenomenon from a spatial perspective, and I have found that there are certain spaces that are particularly susceptible to common memories, especially uninhabited places like this one, called Liminal Space, which is the space between our memories, our dreams, and the context in which we live, between the places we have been and the places we are going.

I wanted to capture this feeling, so I started to think about using painting as a way to try to present it.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am currently a freelance artist, independent illustrator and psychological researcher living in Shanghai. In my spare time I work in printmaking, photography, digital publishing and ceramics, and illustrate both traditionally and digitally. Currently I focus on abstract concepts and psychological studies of social phenomena, observing and depicting places that hold untold stories and the human subconscious.

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

I usually combine photography, psychological research and painting when making my work.

I have documented my own memories of Peckham in black and white, in the park, in the street and in the Safehouse, where the exhibition will be held, using photographic and darkroom techniques, potion dipping, destroying familiarity and blending in with the environment, to bring my memories of Peckham to life in the developed photographs.

I undertook an art talk activity, discussing with participants how shared memories can inspire our own memories or reactions. Using the psychological method of projection as a reference for my creative principles, the fictionalized slices of memories were shown to the participants, leading the audience to think deeply about the relationship between memory, the subconscious mind, and space while inviting the participants to engage in a co-creation process that builds up the space between observation and imagination, as well as how visual memories can be built up over time.

Listening to each participant’s sharing, exchanging each other’s memories, and expressing the emotions and feelings of the unspeakable wearing of memories in paintings, we found many commonalities between our memories together through this series of communication methods. Although the scene was different from what I had envisioned for art therapy, I ended up with a lot of feedback. Many of the participants told me that it surprised them how similar we were while portraying a memory even though we were different individuals with different cultural backgrounds.

Through this activity, it allowed me to communicate and connect with a certain range of communities. At the same time, it is also an art practice for me to combine illustration and psychology in an interdisciplinary way. In the future, I hope to have the opportunity to promote this psychological approach to more people, and I hope this will help more people feel the power in memory.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

The biggest challenge I’m facing right now is balancing work and study. As a freelance illustrator, I need to organize my time wisely and make sure that I can continue my research in psychology alongside my day job.

Challenges remain today, but I think that’s what makes me excited and thrilled.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daymare_0/