We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Angela Wenyang Hou. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Angela Wenyang below.

Alright, Angela Wenyang thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I’d like to share my recent project, where I collaborated with electronic musician LZ (Louzhang) as a VJ artist for his new album live show. This project was particularly meaningful to me as it marked my first time being VJ, I was very excited. Working with LZ was an incredible experience; he is a highly professional, passionate, and talented musician
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We spent a lot of time brainstorming how to integrate visuals and music to create an immersive live show. We designed our approach to combine three methods: pre-rendered clips, live MIDI control, and real-time BPM audio reaction. This required me to learn new applications, and we faced numerous technological and connectivity challenges. But in the end, we handled them perfectly. The show was a success, receiving excellent feedback from the audience.

Throughout the process, I truly learned a lot both technically and creatively, which helped build up my skillset and confidence. Besides, this project also sparked my interest in immersive experience design. It opened a new door to me and I am eager to explore more in this field.

Angela Wenyang, 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’m a director and multimedia visual artist based in Los Angeles, currently pursuing my graduate studies at USC School of Cinematic Arts. I’m passionate about multimedia storytelling and have diverse interests. I’ve worked on projects including 3D motion graphics, visual effects, experimental film and immersive experience. I enjoy integrating different kinds of media, pushing the boundaries of storytelling and aesthetics.

My interest in art began in high school, where I developed a love for painting and fashion. This passion led me to pursue professional education at various art schools. I’ve always been brave to explore new areas, I learned graphic design, directed my own films, experimented with animation, and did VFX for others’ films. While some say you need to focus on one area to become professional enough to get a job, I find that my diverse experiences across different media provide a lot of inspiration. Understanding the rules and patterns of various media helps me get to the essence of storytelling, benefiting my work as a director. I really enjoy the role of director, which I liken to a military commander, as I love leading, planning, and seeing everything come together, whether on a film set, live show, performance, or exhibition.

In the future, I will explore more on immersive experience design. I am skilled in both designing visual art and directing. I’m also open to collaboration on live shows, projection mapping and VR/AR/MR projects. Feel free to check out my portfolio website and connect with me!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Seeing my work connect with the audience is incredibly rewarding. As artists or creative fellows, we definitely face many challenges during the creative process and project coordination. But when I performed with the musician at our live show, for example, I felt truly joyful and grateful. The greatest sense of accomplishment comes from watching my work come to life and the audience’s engagement.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I believe society should place greater respect on the originality of artworks, especially in the age of AI. AI has significantly impacted the creative industry. I’m not advocating for a ban on AI; I see it as a valuable tool that can support artists’ creative process. However, AI-related copyright issues remain controversial, we’re expecting laws to regulate AI usage.

Beyond legal measures, it’s essential for everyone to recognize and protect the contributions of artists, which would help maintain the diversity of human expression and build a healthy creative ecosystem.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://angelahwy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angelayang_yang?igsh=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-wenyang-hou-543902261

Image Credits

Yufei Hong