Meet Yixin Wang

We recently connected with Yixin Wang and have shared our conversation below.

Yixin, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

My life had a huge twist after I came to the United States in 2018 to learn and be an actor. I have no peers or precedents to communicate and share experiences. I didn’t realize how “unique” my decision was until I saw myself as the only Asian in the community, speaking my secondary language “English” all the time with those native speakers, sharing different values that I’d never heard of or hard to understand in my previous 18 years of life……. It was an uncomfortable but fresh feeling to notice I was in the minority. However, I didn’t waste my time on self-pitying, instead, I took this as my advantage, the reason to make myself outstanding.

I continually draw from the unique struggles and experiences that shape who I am. In acting, I always create multi-faced characters, with rounded personalities and complicated backgrounds. I like to challenge those roles who contrast with me yet I can resonate with them to some degree, that I’m with them. I stay present in the moment, allowing my performances to remain fresh and spontaneous. For example, I recently worked on a Tisch Intermediate Film, where I portrayed a rural Chinese girl trapped in a world of oppression and mental health struggles. Tackling such deeply moving stories helps me evolve artistically, constantly pushing the boundaries of my understanding and empathy.

As a performance artist, my creative energy is fueled by an endless curiosity about the interplay between movement, media, and installation. Witnessing and absorbing different people’s lives as an actor and my own experience of living as a Chinese in the United States gave me a distinctive way of digesting most of the incidents, including social issues. Whether through performance or art installation, I seek to express the emotional weight of these moments, always involving the audience in a participatory way. By assigning them roles in the narrative, I ensure they become active witnesses, which not only enhances the creative experience but also deepens my connection to the work itself.

“Whales in the Bathtub”, a performance art piece I performed at La MaMa in New York, navigates the path of a girl being trapped by freedom of speech, freedom of action, and propaganda. I am, as a half insider and half spectator, laying out the truth to the audience.

Navigating between different communities and embracing the constant feelings of instability and discomfort have been integral to my artistic process. These experiences nurture my vulnerability, which I consider an invaluable asset, allowing me to authentically connect with characters and narratives in a way that feels deeply personal. And I want to keep routing myself on this as I believe this could either provide new blood to people who are different from me or comfort people who resonate with me. And this is why I want to stay in the United States as an actor and performance artist, it provides a rich soil for me to develop my perspective and career.

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

I’m an award-winning actor and performance artist who comes from China. My journey as a bilingual actor who has no parallel example with me gave me a distinctive perspetive on myself, no matter doing acting or creating my piece.

I’m lucky that within six years in the United States, I have works already showcased in Lincoln Center(New York), La MaMa(New York), and a few festivals including New York International Film Awards and the 2023 Korea International Short Film Festival. Whenever people are “worrying” about the minority of working as an Asian Actor in the States, I take this as the opportunity of being outstanding. I can do acting in both English and Chinese, I have a rounded image that is able to be portrayed in both protagonist and antagonist, I’m open and brave that love to try all the challenges…….These are what made me confident and believing myself all the time.

The reason why I choose to learn and do acting in another country is purely because of my passion, that I love acting. It’s not about the money, the fame, or the desire. Instead of wanting to be a movie star, it’s more like I want to be someone who is influential so that people would listen to my speech. I care about social issues since I was young, but soon after I realize a kid who has no reputation has little affect on its word. So, I decided to be an actor who would play a positive example to the society, that my words matter.

I always do bold choice and willing to take challenges to try something new, or even make me a little uncomfortable. After coming to the United Sates to learn acting, despite the language barrier, the cultural differences and the loneliness of being the only Asian in the community made me feeling as an outsider sometimes, that I always need to get out of my comfortable zone, encouraging myself everyday. However, I accept the fact of being different from others, and instead take this as my advantage.

As a performance artist, I do multidisciplinary work with a combination of movement, media, and installation. My work merges Asian conservative culture with Western openness by combining multimedia and installations. My fascination with the relationship between form and content carries over to my theatre practice, where I approach working with movement from the perspective of an investigator, looking to open up the seams of both the story and the theatrical form in which it lives.

Something also might distinguished myself to others is my multi working experiences these years. Since I moved to the United Sates in 2018, I have worked in fashion industry as an administration assistant, costume designer, producer in short film, intern at tv station, teaching artist, and creative director in theatre plays. I don’t think these impede my artistic career, instead, living in different industries and roles made me a rounded person and have better ways of seeing this world. All these experiences made me today, molding valuable perspectives for me as an actor and artist, that I do living for different lives.

I love my brand as not a typical Chinese girl, not a typical Asian girl, not a typical Asian face under western aesthetic, I’m only myself.

My solo multidisciplinary performing art piece “Whales in the Bathtub” will be showcased in Mark DeGarmo Dance’s 15th Anniversary Virtual Salon Performance Series for Social Change 2025. I would love to invite people to watch this online performance and hear your feedbacks. It’s a revision from the 2022’s version that I kept working on. It depict a young woman’s journey of self-liberation from oppression. The essence of this work is the combination of Asian conservative culture with Western daring performing expression, which perfectly represents my brand and background as an Asian women in the US.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The world is changing rapidly, both on a global scale and within me as an individual. As someone who regularly reflects on myself, I notice my own growth at every stage, and most importantly, I only compare myself with my past self.

First, I believe that learning ability is essential. This isn’t limited to acquiring knowledge; it involves absorbing qualities and details from those around you. For me, I often interact with people from diverse cultural and life backgrounds. Whenever I engage with others with an attitude of learning and appreciation, I give myself a bonus—a new spark of insight I can add to my collection.

For example, the techniques I use in vertical shorts performances differ from those I use in film. In films, I can convey subtleties with more detail, but in the fast-paced world of vertical shorts, I’m constantly honing my adaptability and the ability to quickly enter and exit a character. This brings me to my second skill: adaptability. Nothing in life is guaranteed to last, and the only things I can control are my own actions and thoughts. The day after I graduated from NYU, I flew to Los Angeles to pursue my career as a professional actor. This meant “leaving behind” the connections and communities I built in New York, but I saw it as an exciting opportunity to start fresh in a new place. My experience as the only Asian student in my undergraduate program over the past few years has strengthened my adaptability and willingness to challenge myself. Instead of holding tightly to the past, I focused on building my own space in this new city. Just as I did in New York—when there was no Chinese theater club, I created one myself. Changing yourself is easier than you think.

This leads to the third skill: critical thinking. Always remember, you are an independent individual with your own thoughts. Nowadays, we are bombarded with unfiltered information, which inevitably makes us feel lost. There will always be someone who seems to be doing better, always someone in another “world.” This brings me back to what I mentioned initially—don’t compare yourself to others; focus on your own growth. I’m incredibly grateful that in these years in the United States, I’ve never stopped reflecting. After observing and experiencing so many things, I, as Yixin Wang, as an actor, as a performance artist, now interpret the world through a different lens, and this transformation is ongoing.

For me as an artist, critical thinking is crucial, especially in my work, where my creative state is closely aligned with my mindset. Since moving to Los Angeles, my “introspection zone” has become my car. I often find myself deep in thought while driving—sometimes processing the news I’ve just read, sometimes reflecting on my genuine reactions to certain interactions, or simply enjoying the music. No matter what, I always recommend that people listen to a range of perspectives and consider why others might think the way they do.

The advice I would give to people just starting their journey is: trust yourself, trust your instincts, and trust your talent. No one in this world will stop you from moving forward—except yourself.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

For my multidisciplinary solo piece, I’m looking for a dramaturg, choreographer, and stage designer to collaborate with. I don’t have a requirement on nationality or background, but I hope to work with someone who has the same values about human rights as me and is willing to do big. If you feel the urgency to make some changes and you have empathy for others, welcome joining me to knit a daring web that can carry everyone. I’m also looking for venues to play/exhibit this show, so if anyone has the resources/ideas about venues, I’d also love to talk!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yixinnova.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yixinnova_14/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yixin-wang-782465254/
• Other: Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user65622696