We were lucky to catch up with Yongqi (Vicky) He recently and have shared our conversation below.

Yongqi (Vicky) , 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.

The most meaningful project I worked on was the first photo project I did when I was in high school. Inspired by my little sister, < A BLINK > is taken by film camera, and the project ended up with a personal photo book.

I was in boarding school from the age of three, and I was only able to go home on weekends. As an extremely introverted and shy child, living at school with other children was a ‘challenge’ for me. I love my family very much and as a child I used to be unable to sleep because I missed them and worried about how my parents were doing at home. So I would enjoy spending time with them on the weekends. It wasn’t until I came to the United States at the age of 13, this decision took me another step away from my family. When I was 13 my sister was 5, I grew up with her and spent time together a lot. I didn’t really notice much of a change in her before because we saw each other every week. When I went back to China from the US on vacation, I noticed that she was much taller than the last time I saw her, she knew a lot more Chinese characters, and I also noticed that we seemed to have a lot less in common than before. I couldn’t help but feel that time had passed quickly, and that I had missed the time with her.

<A BLINK> not only shows the time passing, but also includes many empty spaces which represent the missing time I should have spent with my family. The images in the photo book show how I tried to react to the problem, and how I tried to create a new meaning of these missing dots by combining new images and family archives. Although time is endless and dull, it contains so many wonderful stories and meaningful things when it elapses. At the end, it is also a search for the indistinct long standing memories of myself.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hello, my name is Yongqi He. You can call me Vicky! I am originally from Guangzhou, China (where the Dim Sum from!), and I grew up in Chicago and Los Angeles. I am a student from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago focusing on Visual Communication and Photography. As an artist my work is more focused on personal memories, human emotion, and storytelling. Most of my work consists of me merging the gaps between my past and present life. I like to reminisce upon my memories and simultaneously, reflect on my present in my work.

I love cooking and baking. I wish I could open my own bakery and everything designed by myself! I also love traveling, I have been to more than 10 countries so far. I enjoy experiencing different cultures, eating different foods, and learning different languages. I can speak four languages, and I am willing to learn more! I love music and vlogging, R&B music is my favorite and I also love Jazz and Kpop. So far, the thing I want to do the most is to explore the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I love colors. I think every color has its unique flavor. Just like we all have unique tastes. Since I was four years old, every weekend I would go to the art museum for art workshops. This also laid the foundation for my future art study path. At that time, I felt the most rewarding aspect of being a creative was to enjoy the creative process.

I enjoyed observing people’s expressions in front of the art works, they are sometimes confused, sometimes enlightened. This also leads me to think that when I am creating, I am not only expressing my own emotions but also becoming the viewer: as an audience, what kind of art works I want to see. When people resonate with my work, whether it’s critical or complimentary, it makes me delighted. Because the audience participates and connects with my work. I hope that my work can appear in people’s daily life, which is one of the reasons why I chose graphic design. I want to send my ideas to all corners of the world, and integrate art into life which is also valuable to me!

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.

In my opinion, I don’t think there are no non-creatives in this world. Everyone has their own aesthetic and their way to present their creative side, it can be in any medium and format. We don’t need to always understand art, do not let the present art limit your imagination. Art has evolved to this day because the way to express and present has changed. We no longer judge the value of a work by how well it looks or how realistic it is. When you see a piece of art, you just need to ask yourself, do you like it? Does it resonate with you? Does it make you think of something you relate to? If it does, congratulations. If not, don’t force yourself to accept or understand it, just walk away.

The question I got the most from my family and friends that are not focused on the creative side is: how did you get that from?

My answer is always: Nearby your sight

Observe. Most of my ideas come from things around me, and I expand the idea of what I see. For example, a rainbow’s reflection in a puddle reminds me of childhood but at the same time reminds me of an oil spill that causes ocean pollution. There is a huge difference between the two points, however I can combine these two to one bigger idea.
Maybe you are just too busy and didn’t notice the small surprises in your daily lives. Observe now! That can be the start point of your creative journey!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hevickyongqi.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kyheeeeee/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vicky-h-a6b874252/

Image Credits
Vicky He