We were lucky to catch up with Joan Hui Ko recently and have shared our conversation below.
Joan Hui, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?
One of my very first projects as an independent stop-motion artist was when animation director Javier Barboza reached out to me right before I graduated from CalArts. He asked if I would be interested in fabricating and animating for “Muro,” his personal project funded by the Laika Fellowship and Film Independent. “Muro” is a stop-motion short about a young refugee who journeys through a magical desert and encounters Humpty Dumpty guarding a massive wall dividing the land. Javier had a very clear image of how he wanted Humpty Dumpty to look, and since he himself is an artist, he was able to sketch it out and provide a design blueprint.
Before fabricating, I created a 1:1 prototype with monster clay to guarantee the sculpted puppet matched the director’s vision. My next step was to fabricate the Humpty Dumpty puppet with armature wires, ensuring it functioned perfectly for animation and closely resembled the original design blueprint. After receiving initial approval on the prototype, I began fabricating the actual puppet for production. One of the most interesting parts of the process was deciding on the materials for different parts of the puppet. Since the puppet is essentially an egg-shaped character with limbs, I had to make sure that the materials used could achieve a clean, shiny surface while being lightweight enough to support itself during animation. After rounds of testing, I planned to create a centered brass tube covered with layers of tinfoil, attach a styrofoam ball to build up most of Humpty Dumpty’s head, carve the foam into the accurate shape, then cover the outermost layer with paper clay.
The body of Humpty Dumpty was made differently. Although it is an egg character, it still needs human limbs to express itself because it doesn’t talk. The skeleton was made with armature wires. After discussing with the director, we decided to make the body with Scott foam, which is light, takes up volume, and is porous, allowing movement during animation. The outermost part of Humpty Dumpty’s body was covered with blue fabric.
The most challenging part for me was animating Humpty Dumpty sitting on the wall and performing various challenging expressions. I was never confident in my animation skills, but this job pushed me out of my comfort zone as a stop-motion animator. Javier effectively communicated his vision and even recorded himself acting as a reference for my animation. Since the physical set was in the director’s studio, I received immediate helpful feedback after each shot.. Sometimes I required multiple takes to perfect the animation, which made me appreciate the patience needed to be a professional animator. Overall, this project was a stepping stone that opened up more stop-motion gigs for me later on, and I will always be very grateful for my experience working with Javier.
Joan Hui, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am a stop-motion artist based in Los Angeles and graduated from the California Institute of the Arts in 2022, majoring in Experimental Animation with a concentration in stop-motion animation. I went to CalArts knowing that I had a strong passion for storytelling and character design, but it wasn’t until my second year of college that I was introduced to stop-motion animation. Since then, stop-motion has become my primary art practice. I have always preferred hands-on art forms because there is something mesmerizing about the tactility and texture of physical objects. In my latest stop-motion short film, not only do color and sound play a huge role in setting the tone, but the materials I used to build the puppets and miniature sets—such as wool, fabric, and clay—also contribute to the overall feel. The fuzziness of these materials creates a cozy, nostalgic atmosphere in my work.
I specialize in puppet fabrication and also handle set fabrication and animation upon client request. Most of my stop-motion freelance jobs involve either designing puppets from scratch or turning client-provided blueprints into finished puppets. When it comes to puppet fabrication, I’m all about attention to detail. From constructing the armature and lashing the wires with threads to building up the body with foam and covering the outermost layer with fabric, I take every step with care and precision to ensure that the puppet delivered to the stage is sturdy and durable. Sometimes, a puppet’s wire might break from constant twisting and bending, and it would be sent back to the “puppet hospital” for repair. My job then is to perform a “surgery,” where I cut the foam open and reconnect the wires with epoxy. I love joking with my clients that being a puppet fabricator means I am also an engineer and a surgeon at the same time.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I never really feel out of place as a freelance stop-motion artist because I am surrounded by many artist friends I met either from art school or work. They fully understand how unstable the animation industry can be. As a freelancer, it’s common to work on a gig for a month and then be unemployed the next. The longest contract I’ve had for a stop-motion freelance gig was only six months, and I constantly had to look for the next project while still working on one. Financial instability has long been an unspoken rule in the animation industry.
It wasn’t until I attended one of my high school reunions that I realized how uncommon and unsustainable my lifestyle might seem. Most of my high school friends, who work in big firms and have stable jobs, are already planning to settle down and buy houses. Meanwhile, I’m still juggling part-time jobs and freelance gigs to pay next month’s rent. I had to explain to them that every animated commercial, TV series, or movie is project-based and will end when the final product is delivered, so full-time jobs in the animation industry are rare. Seeing my friends save and plan for their futures made me feel like I’m falling behind, and I started questioning if I should give up on my artistic path and get a regular 9 to 5 job instead.
A turning point occurred when I started teaching an animation class for high school students. That was the first time I realized that doing a job related to animation and having a stable position could coexist, something I had previously thought was impossible. Teaching animation as a part-time faculty member allows me to gain financial stability while still giving me plenty of free time to work on freelance projects. At this phase in my life, I believe this setup serves me best, as it is sustainable and related to my passion. The saying, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” certainly applied when I was struggling to achieve stability and was close to changing my career path, yet I found a way to make it work. I love how the balance between teaching and freelancing allows me to network and stay active within the industry. At the same time, engaging with students and their fresh perspectives often inspires my own work. I believe every incident in life is connected to the next, eventually leading me to where I am meant to be, whether it’s the opportunity to work on a feature film or get funded to make my own film one day.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
For me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the ability to use art as a tool to recreate cherished memories shared with loved ones—moments that exist only in my mind and grow blurrier with time. My animation often revolves around personal memories that are fragmented, and I piece them together to create a memory collage. The art itself might not be an exact replica of the original memories, yet it evokes feelings that resemble the experiences of those times. Art has the unique power to bring people together, transcending language and cultural barriers, and animation, in particular, is universally appealing. There’s something profoundly fulfilling about taking an idea, especially one rooted in seemingly insignificant yet deeply meaningful memories, and bringing it to life. Celebrating these small, personal moments through my work allows me to connect with others on an emotional level, creating a shared experience that is both intimate and universal.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.joanhuiko.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joanhuiko/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joan-hui-ko-843058163/
Image Credits
Jessica Haye & Clark Hsiao