Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Muyan Pei. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Muyan, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Throughout my journey as an artist, many projects have offered me various insights and revelations. However, among all these endeavors, undoubtedly the most meaningful was a documentary I undertook in 2020: Philadelphia Diary.

It was my 23rd birthday party, and as I made my way home after celebrating with friends, I encountered an experience that truly altered me and prompted the initiation of this project – I witnessed firsthand my beloved city, Philadelphia, undergo a profound transformation due to societal ruptures.

People were graffitiing “Fuck 12” on the streets, storefronts and bank windows were smashed, fires burned on the roadsides, police cars clashed with crowds, and amidst the chaos, there was a constant outpouring of fear and anger. It was as if Pandora’s Box had been opened. As an artist hailing from a relatively socially stable environment, the role I had long played in American society was singular – that of a foreign observer. This privilege was not merely material but also in terms of perspective and experience, distancing me from many injustices and conflicts within society. Large-scale social movements and protests were unimaginable scenes for me, let alone their underlying reasons. However, as I stood on the streets, watching young African American boys asking police officers of the same ethnicity, “How do you feel?!” The emotional impact forced me to pick up my camera and begin documenting everything I saw.

As events escalated, I repeatedly ventured out of the confines of my home to document one protest after another. The BLM movement, the killing of Walter Wallace Jr, the showdown between Biden and Trump – residents of Philadelphia gathering time and again on the streets, raising their voices in the eye of the storm – I had no other choice but to wield my camera. I began to realize the limitations of my previous perspective: what I witnessed was not merely cultural differences but also profound societal rifts and conflicts, and whether it was racial discrimination or social injustice, they were not the patents of any specific country or culture but global issues. These experiences compelling me to reevaluate my position and role.

Filled with questions and answers, the documentary Philadelphia Diary continued to be fleshed out, and I began to understand that as an artist, I had a responsibility to respond to these social issues with my work, encouraging greater cross-cultural understanding and dialogue. My artistic journey ceased to be solely a personal exploration and instead became a bridge connecting different cultures and societies, while also finding my place in this diverse world. I aim to capture not only moments of chaos and pain through my lens but also the brightness and hope within humanity.

My transformation did not stop at documenting and reflecting. Eight months after the filming of Philadelphia Diary began, I made a milestone decision for myself – I joined a protest against anti-Asian hate. This marked the first time I became not only a documenter but also an activist, a participant. In that moment, I became the subject once captured within my lens.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Ashley-Muyan Pei, born and raised in a family immersed in literature and education. My grandparents were teachers, and my mother is a journalist. Growing up in such an environment endowed me with high expectations from an early age, even my name “Muyan” means “to master language”. Despite the family’s expectations for literary achievements, my artistic journey unfolded in a different form – painting.

From a young age, I freely unleashed my imagination as drawings and sketches in the margins of literature books. Although this surprised my family, it couldn’t suppress my longing for the world of canvas. Eventually, they chose to support me, and at the age of 13, I moved into a painting studio, intertwining my life and educational path closely with art. From studying traditional Chinese painting at the High School of Central Academy of Fine Arts in China, to pursuing fine arts and film BFA at The University of the Arts in the U.S., and then majoring in a master’s in film and video at CalArts, the path of art led me through both traditional and modern realms. Chinese traditional calligraphy, seal carving, 16mm film, creative coding – these artistic forms derived from different cultures provided me with nourishment, enabling me to transcend barriers of language and nationality.

In 2015, I brought traditional Chinese painting to the UNESCO headquarters in France, initiating my dialogue with the world. Over the following years, I participated in curating the Eighth Beijing International Art Biennale US Special Exhibition, and filmed the documentary Philadelphia Diary. In 2023, collaborating with a vocal artist & composer Menghe Jing, I held the Hidden By Vision visual art installation exhibition at 4C Gallery in Los Angeles, exploring the spiritual confinement brought upon marginalized groups by the cocoon of information. Currently, I am integrating interactive new media art with Chinese seal carving, examining the lack of self-definition for women in patriarchal society.

In addition to my own creative work, I am continuously involved in curation, filmmaking, and video jockey activities. I believe my journey is a call from the depths of my heart, a brave exploration of the unknown world, and a profound reflection on my own existence. Between canvas and screen, I will continue to weave stories with brushes and light, attempting to build bridges in the mist. This will be my endless journey, my declaration of existence.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

As an artist, I believe one of the most valuable aspects is the ability to transform personal feelings, societal observations, and profound understandings of the world into artistic creations, drawing from a diverse background and rich life experiences. From my personal perspective, my multicultural journey, spanning from China to the United States and various residencies around the world, has expanded my foundational understanding of the world horizontally. Moreover, delving into social issues and introspection has deepened my artistic creations vertically.

In particular, I am currently working on a multimedia art installation exhibition titled 氏 (“Clan”), which combines the ancient Chinese technique of traditional seal carving with the emerging technology of Touch Designer. This exhibition aims to explore and contemplate the transmission of surnames in patriarchal society, as well as the plight of women within such a societal framework. It seeks to redirect the audience’s focus to this domain. Throughout this process, I continuously transform personal experiences and societal observations into multidimensional artistic expressions.

This ability—to translate personal reflections and societal realities into artworks with depth and power—is immensely precious to me. It not only allows me to observe the world from a unique perspective but also enables me to establish profound emotional connections with the audience, prompting them to reflect on important social issues. Through my art, I hope to inspire others while continually challenging and redefining myself. This is not only a source of happiness for me as an artist but also a driving force for my ongoing journey of exploration and growth.

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

In this complex era, what we pursue is not just personal artistic development, but also understanding and expressing multi-dimensional societal issues. As members of society, except for conveying creativity and insights, many artistic projects and activities are still seeking opportunities for collaboration with public media and diverse platforms to promote discussions on important topics, enabling the general public to gain real-time information about art.

Furthermore, horizontally expanding the audience for artistic activities is also highly meaningful, especially in organizing community art projects to enhance the involvement of artistic activities in communities and public spaces. Through community participation and public space art projects, artistic activities can directly attract the interest of local residents and passersby, thereby further promoting audience reflection and communication on social phenomena, making art a part of life and closely connecting with people’s daily experiences and emotions. In addition to this, promoting cross-disciplinary cooperation between artists and art organizations, such as collaboration with fields like technology, environmental protection, and social services, brings art into a broader social context, attracting more people from different backgrounds to pay attention to and participate in it. In such social endeavors, each artistic creation showcase has the potential to become an opportunity for in-depth exploration of societal issues, and each conversation can be an attempt at deeper understanding of the diverse world – which will create infinite possibilities for art.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ashleymuyanpei.com/
• Instagram: bshley_peieiei
• Other: vimeo: https://vimeo.com/user129871266

Image Credits
Dino Xu, Menghe Jing, Rashed Qurwash, Yuang Li