Vision in Motion: Yue Hua’s Evolution as a Multimedia Artist, Filmmaker and Production Designer
Every once in a while, an artist comes along and makes us question the status quo — what is art, what is self-expression? Does an artist need to stick to one medium to be successful, or can they excel across many? Yue Hua is one such artist. As a multimedia artist, her work transcends mediums, blending analog film, experimental techniques, and immersive design to craft narratives that challenge conventions and spark meaningful dialogue.
Earning her critical acclaim and recognition on a global stage, Yue’s artistry spans experimental films and innovative production design. Last year her analog film performance Blue Bird — a multi-16mm exploration of identity and belonging — won the Emerging Artist Award at the Revolution Per Minute Film Festival and will soon be featured in a solo screening at Harvard FAS CAMLab. Similarly, her film Trace on My Body challenges societal beauty standards through 16mm animation and digital techniques, earning the Best of Experimental Film Award at Grrl Haus Cinema and screening at prestigious festivals in Buenos Aires, London, and Cannes. Beyond her multimedia film projects, Yue’s vision as a production designer has shaped award-winning works such as Act №6: From Zanzibar to Tehran, as well as numerous high-profile commercial campaigns.
Yue says, “I view my artistic journey as an ongoing process of rediscovery. My work reflects not only my story but also the cultural contrasts and inner conflicts that have shaped me. This journey has inspired me to embrace art as a way to question norms, explore identity, and foster meaningful connections.”
Growing up in Anhui, China in a time marked by a mix of tradition and change as the country was rapidly modernizing, Yue’s early life was heavily structured around education– and art was a part of that.
“[Art] was introduced as a skill to master rather than a form of self-expression,” recalls Yue, who gravitated towards the arts regardless. “I found my way into the arts as a child, playing with colors and shapes through drawing and reading illustrated books. It started as pure joy — an intuitive love for creating. I was fascinated by illustrated books, which sparked my imagination and inspired me to experiment with storytelling through images.”
In those early years, aside from art, Yue found herself continually drawn to listening to people’s stories, which allowed her to experience and understand different perspectives– something that would prove to be highly influential in her work later on. While her life as an artist growing up in China was marked by formal education and perfecting technical skill, her approach and experience as an artist took a different direction when she moved to the US several years ago.
“While this rigorous training shaped my technical skills, it also stifled my creative passion. Art began to feel less like self-expression and more like meeting an external standard,” she explains. “After moving to the U.S. nearly a decade later, I encountered a vastly different approach to art — one that embraced experimentation, imperfection, and personal storytelling. This new perspective felt both freeing and challenging, prompting me to reconnect with the joy I had felt as a child.”
Last year Yue released her 16mm performance expanded film Blue Bird which, consisting of text, poems, animation, shot and archived footage, and a voice-over of her personal story, utilized analog techniques such as cameraless filmmaking, laser printing, hand process, direct animation, color separation, projector operation, loop, and optical printing.
Following the journey of a bird’s soul in search of its body, the film holds a deep significance for Yue as it parallels both her journey from China to the US, as well as her search for identity through acceptance and a better understanding of herself.
“Blue Bird is not only a kind of bird, but also a symbol of a group of people, who migrate and explore their identity, history, and memory,” explains Yue. “In the content, it tells a story about a Chinese female’s journey of finding herself… It’s never easy for a girl to find herself in a patriarchal society and develop a sense of self. [Blue Bird] speaks with a female voice.”
Showcasing Yue’s brilliant ability to merge deeply personal narratives with innovative techniques, Blue Bird challenges traditional storytelling by transforming cinema into a multi-sensory experience where the audience is surrounded by images from multiple projectors. Whether through the interplay of light and shadow from 16mm projectors or the raw vulnerability in her voice-over, Yue’s work invites audiences to not only watch but feel the emotional depth of her story as they reflect upon their own.
In addition to earning the Emerging Artist Award at the Revolution Per Minute Film Festival, Blue Bird was chosen as an Official Selection of the Mono No Aware Film Festival, included in the group exhibition “Is This Too Much?” as well as an exhibition at the Huret & Spector Gallery in Boston, Mass.
“I’m passionate about my work because it allows me to explore identity, challenge norms, and create connections. Art is my way of understanding and expressing the world around me — it’s deeply personal yet inherently universal,” says Yue. “Through my projects, I delve into themes like womanhood, cultural identity, and self-discovery, using storytelling as a tool to spark dialogue and inspire reflection.”
Employing direct animation, in 2023 Yue released her evocative and experimental 16mm film Trace on My Body, which examines the physical body through the female gaze. A film about self-acceptance, the film came to life after Yue experienced a physical illness that forced her to reevaluate her relationship with her own body.
The film has already had an incredible film festival circuit run, being chosen as an Official Selection of the RPM Highlight, Panorama Film Festival, Engage Experimental Film Festival, Gravitational Lensing Screening Shapeshifters Cinema and Feminist Border Arts Film Festival in the US, the Light Matter Film Festival in Argentina, the UK’s Altered Images Film and Music Festival, and The Holy Art, France’s OBSKURA Analog Film Festival and AVIFF le festival du film d’artiste, and many more. Trace on My Body is also slated to screen in May as an Official Selection of the Seattle International Film Festival, which is one of North America’s top-ranked festivals, as well as an Academy Award and Canadian Screen Award qualifying festival for short films.
Through an amalgamation of images of her naked body with flickering words projected onto the visual frames such as ‘swell, crack, stretch’ and the questions ‘do I love my body?,’ ‘do I love my soul?” and others, Yue invites the audience to question their relationship to their own body.
“Creating art is a healing process, it also pushes me to deeper understand myself… For society and humanity, I believe art is vital because it fosters understanding, empathy, and dialogue,” says Yue. “It allows us to see the world through different perspectives, breaking down barriers and celebrating diversity. Art also has the unique ability to document and preserve culture, acting as a mirror of our collective experiences, histories, and values.”
This same commitment to fostering understanding and meaningful connections, while also creating stunning environments, has defined Yue’s career as a production designer. Her journey into production design began during her undergraduate studies in film production at the China Academy of Art, where she honed her technical skills in drawing and commercial filmmaking. Recognized for her keen eye for detail and spatial design, Yue was recommended by her professors for her first opportunities in the field. “The opportunity appeared to me, and I grabbed it,” she recalls of her early experiences in the commercial industry.
Since then, Yue has become a sought-after production designer known for her ability to craft immersive visual worlds. Her projects span award-winning multimedia works like Act №6: From Zanzibar to Tehran, where she created an intricate historical setting for virtual reality and live-action blended installation, to high-profile commercial campaigns for brands like JD.com and WooKong. Each project showcases her unique ability to merge storytelling with design.
“Production design requires mixed skills which cover drafting floor plans, architectural plans, 3D modeling, sketching, painting walls, crafting, hand-making, photography, graphic design, and color palettes,” Yue explains. “My ability to design 3D space benefits both in doing installations as a multimedia artist and 3D space design and set decoration as a production designer.”
Earning the Virgin Unite Fund Award and being chosen as an Official Selection of Georgia’s On View ARTS Southeast and the Emerson Film Festival, Act №6: From Zanzibar to Tehran focuses on forced marriage and forced migration, where young women between the ages of 12 and 17 were reportedly forced into marriage with government officials of Zanzibar in 1970.
Yue says, “I was able to work with a 3D artist to really design from scratch and build the whole world from zero. It was both challenging and interesting.”
As a production designer, Yue’s ability to create captivating worlds, often from scratch, in order to meet the director’s vision has been a driving force in the success of her projects. For the commercial for Chinese streetwear brand WooKong, which garnered over 9 million views on the Xinpianchang platform, Yue helped the brand establish their aesthetic identity by designing sets to reflect the fusion of traditional Chinese culture with modern fashion trends. She researched pop culture touchpoints, selected props and visuals that complemented the brand’s youthful, avant-garde vibe, and worked closely with the mural artist to execute the final look. The result was a powerful visual narrative that helped elevate its image in the competitive streetwear market.
For the Jingdong × decisive battle! Onmyoji Arena Esports Night commercial, Yue went above and beyond, helping to create an immersive environment that seamlessly blended the world of gaming with Jingdong’s brand identity. The commercial, produced for JD.com — one of the largest online retailers in China — featured a high-energy party scene where game characters, cosplayers, and professional gamers came together in a vibrant celebration of esports culture.
Yue’s role as production designer involved creating four distinct scenes that captured the essence of the game while integrating Jingdong’s branding elements naturally. From concept development to final set dressing, Yue led the art department in bringing the Onmyoji Arena to life in a way that resonated with its audience and elevated the brand’s presence in the gaming space.
From designing the historical landscapes of Act №6: From Zanzibar to Tehran to bringing vibrant, branded environments to life in commercial productions, Yue’s work as a production designer is a testament to her artistic versatility and technical mastery. Her ability to infuse visual storytelling into every aspect of her design has helped her establish a glowing reputation as a creative force in both art and production design.
“Yue is incredibly hardworking and efficient — she’s always creating, whether she’s out filming, experimenting with new craft materials, or in the lab developing film rolls. Beyond her technical skills, she’s truly inspiring, insightful, and deeply passionate about her work. She started in the commercial and narrative space, but when she transitioned into analog filmmaking, her dedication and unique vision sparked something in the people around her,” explains producer Yanghuixiao Gao, who produced the films Blue Bird and Trace on My Body
“Many of our filmmaker friends, including myself, were drawn into 16mm and experimental filmmaking because of her influence. I had always been focused on narrative storytelling and never imagined myself working with analog film but watching Yue’s approach opened up a whole new perspective for me.”
Up next for multimedia artist and production designer Yue Hua is a collaboration with artist Kledia Spiro on a project that merges expanded cinema and performance art. The project is broken into two portions– Labor Days, which is a live performance highlighting marginalized female labor groups in the film, and arts industries; and Invisible Cleaning Lady, an indoor analog performance using a projector and analog film loop. Through this project, the artists aim to shed light on women’s roles in family life, art history, and global media representation.
At the end of the day, Yue says, “What drives me most is the power of art to empower others. Growing up in a structured educational system, I often felt constrained by external expectations. Reclaiming my voice through creative exploration taught me how liberating art can be. Now, I strive to share that experience with others — especially women — encouraging them to embrace their unique perspectives and stories.”
