Meet Sihui Shao

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sihui Shao.

Sihui, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
My grandparents used to have a garden full of fruits and flowers. At that time, my parents were not with me, and I would look up to the sky whenever there was an airplane flied by. Ivies are all over the wall, Telosma Cordata bloom when night falls, the things always remind me of the town where I came from.

Can you give our readers some background on your work?
I am a filmmaker and I do theatre and video installations. I am interested in the combination of theatre and filmmaking as the blurred line between fiction and nonfiction always attracts me. I would like people to question what is an illusion and what is real after watching my works, and at the same time, people can still enjoy illusions even though it is obvious that they are not real.

My latest project is a documentary about my hometown, a small town in the north part of China. The documentary is about my grandma who is slowly losing her memory, and my friends and I as characters who try to have fun in the town that having nothing to do.

Do you think conditions are generally improving for artists? What more can cities and communities do to improve conditions for artists?
I think nothing is easy if we want to be great anyway so it makes sense that it is not easy to be a great artist. For me, the opportunity to study filmmaking in the US has provided me the chance to look distantly from what I used to be familiar with. That distance drags me out of the culture that I was born with and makes me realize what is common in humanity. Also, I am drown to the different illusions people have and enjoy, what is real and what is not real.

And if cities could be more artists friendly like I don’t need to worry about all the visa things in all countries to experience all the cultures, that would be great.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I have a synopsis of my film and theatre works, and an excerpt of a video installation on my website: www.sihuishao.com. You can email me for a full link to the works. If you are interested in my work and would like to collaborate or produce my projects please email me too.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sihuishao.com
• Email: sihuishao@alum.calarts.edu
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sihui_shao/?hl=en

Image Credit:
Freddy Tang, Thomas Finney, Sunyin Zhang, Anqi Wu

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