Meet Yibo Xu

We were lucky to catch up with Yibo Xu recently and have shared our conversation below.

Yibo, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

For me, it mostly comes from the urge to open my eyes and see the world, to meet different people. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed reading, watching, and exploring others’ visions. The more I expose myself to different contexts, the more I understand who I am and what I like. Being aware of my thoughts and preferences really brings confidence when we are working on something of our own.

Often, we may realize that we share so much in common with others that we don’t feel special anymore. But for me, what makes us special is, in a sense, that we are not that special! By understanding and witnessing a larger group of people, we can speak out about our experiences and bring true authenticity to our words. That’s what makes us unique! So yeah, that’s how I find certainty in self-confidence!

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Professionally, I am a storyboard artist in the animation realm, which means I develop visual strategies and character performances for animated films. My focus in storyboarding is to dig out that organic feeling how characters behave, so they hit the gigs naturally. Storyboarding, for me, is more than just managing visual elements; it’s like “roleplaying” as my characters. I think, “I am in animation, and I can do everything beyond limits!” I imagine myself in my characters’ bodies, digging out my energetic, jumpy, and expressive parts, letting them take charge of my personality. This way, the performance flows naturally.

While developing on my professional path, it is a constant topic for me to practice about my authentic message as a individual artist. What message do I want to share, and how will I share it to connect with my audience? If you look at my personal work, you’ll see I try to deliver a similar motif: being caught in an obscure place, full of uncertainty, with nothing to believe in. I like to put my cartoon characters in such places and let them have conversations (which are really just my inner voices). These conversations and thoughts probably reflect how we feel growing up in this generation, in a world of uncertainty.

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

What confused me in my early journey was the number of experienced people trying to sell their “right way to success.” I was so naive, unsure of how to do anything, and extremely cautious about making mistakes. Nowadays, I realize there isn’t a single correct philosophy; only the philosophies that work for us individually. Be curious and open, practice things, and we will discover what works for us along the way.

Here’s the trick: Treat different people’s methodologies like grocery shopping. They may sound fancy and make sense in their way, but ultimately, it’s up to us to decide what we want to do with them and which ingredients work best for us. Gradually try them out and pick the ones that work for us, so a uniquely seasoned dish can be made!

If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?

Yes definitely! Starting a life in a new environment and pursuing an art career can bring so much anxiety, and it can sometimes feel catastrophic. It’s like a black hole when I start thinking about how fragile my life actually is and how uncertain the future is for me as an artist with an international background. But at the same time, I’m learning to cope with these less-than-ideal situations. I’m super lucky to have awesome mentors and cohorts around me who provide tremendous inspiration and support when I struggle. Concerning situations might still arise, but at least I’m aware that as long as I’m doing something every day, even if it’s slow, I am still making progress and getting closer to my dream!

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Image Credits

All images belong to myself

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