Meet Yunyi Dai

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yunyi Dai.

Hi Yunyi, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in Shanghai, China. When I was a kid, fairy tales and movies were pretty much my life. Drawing princess after princess let me live out a happier fantasy outside of all the homework and tutoring outside of school. Back in the real world I was not exactly being encouraged. My parents are both high achievers, and they had little time for princess delusions or art. One of my earliest memories is drawing an apple in art class. I mixed green and red and it was indeed a real mess. But even then art was too much a part of my life to simply quit.

When I moved to the US by myself when I was 14, I tasked myself with trying new adventures. I ended up spending most of my free time painting in the art classroom. Although my parents spent years encouraging me to follow in their footsteps in becoming a doctor, I knew that my life is mine and my choice alone. I was determined to turn my passion for art into a career. In 2016, I decided to go to art school, and Illustration became my focus.

In 2019, I earned the opportunity to work with NPR Next Generation Radio as their project illustrator. I traveled across the United States assisting journalism students by creating editorial illustrations based on immigrants’ personal narratives. I shadowed all the interviews and tried to get an overview of these immigrants’ experiences in the country.

After four years of working with NPR Next Generation Radio, I now lead a team of six illustrators. We tell stories through editorial illustrations, website banners, portraits, and motion graphics. Illustration has changed my life in a way that it guides me to tell other people’s stories as well as my own. It has not always been easy, but I am thankful for the path illustration has brought me to where I am today.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I do not think it has ever been a smooth road. Not everything comes naturally to me. Some people get it on their first try, but I have always had to practice to master a new skill. The first time I picked up a crayon, I made a disgusting mess, not a work of art. The first time I tried to ski, I ended up carrying my skis down to the bottom.

Even after I entered art school, I spent many years struggling with various art mediums such as charcoal, oil paint, and digital art. Professor Deanna Staffo once told me “It takes 100 portraits to master the art of portraiture.” Whenever I face challenges, her words echo in my mind. I think now I have drawn over 100 portraits, and I believe that determination can definitely pay off.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
In my illustration, I build a world of fantasy with whimsical creatures, interiors, and landscapes. Putting my illustration into motion and building playful scenes in 3D are amongst my favorite techniques to activate the story in the picture.

As I was a painter before I learned digital illustration, I embrace the shape language in my work while combining it with vibrant colors. My love for color has made children, animals, food, nature, health, and lifestyle my favorite themes to draw. I have always been a big horror and thriller movie fan. Every year during the Halloween season, I have been creating illustrations with dark and eerie subject matters.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I would love to share my recent project — “Yes, Mother” is the first series of illustrations I created for myself. In a sparsely lit gothic mansion filled with rooms of strange apparitions and sinister furnishings, a young child tells unsettling stories of her everyday life. Each illustration depicts the psychological traumas and anxieties I experienced as a kid. Growing up is a scary thing. The project was a personal story I brought to the world, hoping to raise awareness for children who experience emotional and physical abuse.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://yunyidaiart.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yunyidai/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yunyi-dai-3b1b55126/

Image Credits
Illustrations by Yunyi Dai