Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Shengwei Zhou. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Shengwei, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
I have been working on an on going animation series called Perfect City. It contains 5 episodes including 4 animation short films and 1 VR piece. It is a world constructed by different materials. Each episode will focus on one or two materials like wood, paper, fabric, stone, and mud. I want to use materials to tell stories in our intimate relationships. I want to also bring emotional journey into these materials and let the audience feel the softness inside the hard shells.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I was previously working as an independent film maker before I came to USC Expanded Animation: Research & Practice program. I used to think in a “safe” way, which is put my characters into a genre box and shape them into the plots I already designed for them. But after joining XA program in USC I started to realize that creating art is never safe and has to always embrace the unknown. I started to hesitate my own way of creation and I dreamt a lot. Lots of them are horrible bad dreams.
Those dreams reflected my anxious and frightened mental status against the unknown, but also it’s like a new born process. One night I had a wonderful lucid dream. In that dream I became a whale, or I might really entered into a whale’s body. I started to feel the power of unknown.
Since then I gradually find my new path and methodology, I open the locked doors of myself through my dreams and create art works based on my dreams. And also I gradually embrace all the possibilities that the characters would lead me to. It’s like a journey you would never know.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I think I want to feel more about the unknown, or say, death. What is life? What will happen after death?
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I think everyone is creative. The thing is that sometimes they are too afraid to face with the unknown. People sometimes need to slowdown their steps. Instead of building up shells layer by layer, we could dive into ourselves and touch the softness of our body and mind. Once we start to be aware of ourselves, we can be creative.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://zhoushengwei.squarespace.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shengwei_zhou_director/
Image Credits
Shengwei Zhou