Today we’d like to introduce you to Qingyun Zhang.
Hi Qingyun, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born and raised in a small city near a desert in China. Not knowing what to do for my future, I went for Architecture in college, where I found my passion in entertainment. I quit college and went to School of Visual Arts in New York to study film. I wanted to do production design for film, however it was not a major in SVA. I still self-taught basics of production design and obtained experience by doing projects for my friends. One thing I realized at the end of my undergraduate education was that design for film is a very fragmented experience. It is more about design one picture, and what I wanted to do is to create experience. After working in video post for a year, I decided to pursue further into what I really want to do. I am currently studying Scenic Design in California Institute of the Arts.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely was not a smooth road. I was the only person in my friend circle, and second to my entire knowledge, to study abroad back in the days. Every step going further was a lot sleepless nights questioning was this the right choice? Will I be able to become what I wanted to become? A lot of self-doubt. There’s also the aspect of being one minority in a foreign place. It never feels good when I have no one to write on the “emergency contact” field in school forms and health insurance forms. And at the same time, I think most Asian kids who has been in the U.S. for a while has experienced the same thing – lost our cultural identities and trying to redefine it. I think I’m still in that process. Or even only at the beginning of it, and this is the 7th year for me in the U.S.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’ve always been a jack of all trades. Like I mentioned before, it’s been a long way for me to find and decide on what I do right now. However, I think that also benefits me as an artist, it makes me more than a technical rendering person. I am a scenic designer who draws, makes film, be the meme person to my friends, and also writes. Walking the road I walked, I become very interested in all kinds of stories that enable me to experience lives other than mine in their most genuine forms. And I’ve realized that yes, there are a lot of great stories about minorities out there, stories about gays, lesbians, transgenders, Latin Americans, Mexicans, but not really anything about Asians. I’ve seen a few great artworks produced by Asian Americans or Asians in America, I’m sure there’s more, but they are not out there, not visible unless you really do your diggin. So I guess I’m proud of who I am and want to not only be a visual artists for shows that are about other’s stories, but also want to help people who are like me, or me myself, make our voices heard.
Any big plans?
One big thing that has been in my mind and has occupied my mind – both the forward-looking side and the anxious side, is that I want to make my own theater play. I would not call myself a director nor a producer, but I was really inspired by a play called Charles Francis Chan Jr.s Exotic Oriental Mystery, written by Lloyd Suh. And I know that I have to make my own play. So I know that will happen. And I only need to figure out how.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://chelseazhang.me/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amianartaccount/
Image Credits:
Credit for “1-1.jpg”(long table): Tal Drori, Connor Landhauser, Credit to “vlcsnap-2019-12-17-17h16m32s406.png” (Blue&red lighting): Andrew Garcia, Credit to “vlcsnap-2019-12-14-19h18m10s625.png” (Green background): Yutong Chen
