We were lucky to catch up with Yan Shao recently and have shared our conversation below.

Yan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Life in the Ashes is a series of photographs taken in 2020 that explore the complex relationship between wildfires, climate change, and forest regeneration. There were severe wildfires struck California that year. I lived in Bay Area at that time, and I still recall the orange sky, from east to west, full of smoke and dust.

Inspired or I would say astonished by the 2020 California wildfires, I started researching the role of wildfire in the nutrient circulation and its importance in energy flux. I wandering around the mountains of North California where has burned by wildfire, witnessing charred barks, tons of toasted leaves, and massive burnt ground, leading to a strong sense of apocalypse. I also observed some forests that had been ravaged by fire years earlier. Here, new saplings sprouted from the nutrient-rich black soil, and older trees benefit from moisture fungi who cover barks, indicating a symbiotic relationship. Later I know they were redwood forest. The juxtaposition of death and rebirth made me reflect on the complicated forest ecosystem and the delicate balance that earth have sustained.

While wildfires play a crucial role in the natural cycle, yet we don’t know when and how will human disrupt, or perhaps already disrupted, this balance, steering us toward an unknown future.

It was an significant encounter with the direct effects of climate change, which subsequently become an important topic in my artistic practice.

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

I am a new media artist and creative technologist based in New York. I create poetic new media artworks that explore the perceptual possibilities and mediate the complex interrelations between humans and the earth. Often, my projects draw inspiration from geopoetics, natural transience, and ecological humanity.

I am a receipt of Judson-Morrissey Excellence in New Media Award and the Tisch Initiative of Creative Research Fellowship. I am also a member of Femmes Designer, and recently presented in the 28th ISEA (International Symposium on Electronic Art) in Paris.

I earned my Bachelor’s in Geology from Yunnan University and a MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute. In 2023, I completed my MPS from the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I studied Geology in college where I was trained as a scientist. It helped me equipped with analytical thinking and skills in experiments. I did well and entered a Master program afterwards with full scholarship to continue scientific research on environmental studies. However, I gradually found myself is an more intuitive and feeling-driven person.

After two years of hesitation and self-doubt, I made a decision to leave the scientific path and begin a creative pursuit, even though I wasn’t sure its exact form. Parting ways with science, a field I was so deeply familiar with, was difficult but not regretful. Later, I seek a fresh start to redefine myself and enrolled in an art program in the US.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

To me, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is rediscovering myself. Though I walked away the scientific world earlier, which I thought it wasn’t for me. After ten years, I feel that the sincere curiosity when I filled the college application to study Geology remains. That is a love for nature and the earth. I once believed that I am done with science, now I realize that I’ve found a different way to channel that passion, allowing me to forge a sensory connection through my art.

On the professional side, the people within the art community are incredible rewarding. I love people I’ve met in college, in various cities, and at art events. They are creative, compassionate, and imaginative, who have enriched my life so much. Their sincerity and honest with their dedication to art always inspire and encourage me.

Recently, I gave an artist talk at the 28th International Symposium on Electronic Art in Paris, an esteemed art conference gathering artists, researchers, engineers, designers and entrepreneurs. The theme for this year was “Symbiosis”, a subject I have researched for two years, resulting in two art installations, “Autopoiesis” and “Algae Chorus”. It is rewarding that people told me they were emotionally moved by my work and considered my work opened an thoughtful discussion. I was also inspired by the varied insights and diverse artworks from participants globally, all contributing to the dialogue on symbiosis and related fields. I am grateful that I have talked to many incredible individuals, and made new friends sharing same interests, and continue our conversation online after the event.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shaoyan.art/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ss.syan/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yanshao321/

Image Credits
7 photos are my work. Algae Chorus installation photo credit: Myaskovsky, Courtesy of NYU Photo Bureau