Meet Zhiyu You | Illustrator & Tattoo Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Zhiyu You and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Zhiyu, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
At first, I thought my illustration and tattoo career started by accident. Looking back now, I realize that all of this was inevitable.

Drawing has been my favorite thing to do since I was a child. I still remember that when I was a child, my family was not rich, and the only drawing paper I had was the copy paper my father left on the table. I sat on the balcony with my grandma on a summer afternoon. Grandma was knitting a sweater next to me and talking to me about the trivial of life. I could only get half the meaning of those words and drew on the copy paper. When the copy paper was all gone, I started to draw on my body and on the walls at home. My father came home from work, he was really angry when he saw my “masterpiece” covered by the curtain. After that incident, my parent also knew that I love drawing, so they found a drawing teacher for me and taught me art systematically.

After being admitted to the illustration major of the School of Visual Arts, I still hesitated between fine art and illustration for a long time. I also took some fine art courses while studying illustration. After experimenting, I found that I prefer to tell stories in my works, tell stories of what I saw, and tell stories that make people thought-provoking. So I became more determined to study illustration.

After graduation, I met a lot of tattoo artists, so I decided to try it myself. After I started my tattoo business in an “accident”, I found that I was deeply attracted to tattoos. I style my illustrations to fit the body, using the body as an extension of the canvas, just like when I was a child. My tattoo style continues my illustration style, mainly based on lines, and the design inspiration also comes from my cultural background.

In retrospect, the choices I made along the way may not be accidental, but all because of my love for art.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a teller when I am drawing and a listener when I am tattooing.

Women are the eternal theme in my art.

I hope to build a “female language” in my works, and as an Asian illustrator, use artistic narrative techniques to discuss social issues and arouse more social attention to contemporary women’s situation. Everyone in modern society has various pressures, and not everyone can understand, or even realize the pressures of different groups. If I can use artistic language to show more female emotions, more people can understand the current situation of contemporary women.

For tattooing, at the really beginning, I just wanted to show beauty through tattoos. It turned out later that the story behind the tattoo was what fascinated me the most. I like to listen to the story behind every idea, communicate with different people, understand their stories and ideas, and then construct the pattern design on my paper. Help them combine beauty and imagery and balance, and express emotions through tattoos.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Mother of Junk is my favorite “treasure dig” place in NYC. Every time I go there, I can find some “strange” objects, old postcards hidden in antique cabinets, weird-looking spoons, and old glasses.

In fact, at the very beginning, I never thought that I will use anything second-hand because, in the environment where I grew up, we don’t have a culture in which people would really use objects in daily life that are used by strangers.

But looking at it from another angle, although these objects have traces of time, they have been carefully taken care of by others, otherwise, they would not look so well. And I chose them, just one the person to pass on this love.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The first person I would like to thank, of course, is my family. When I was preparing for the college entrance examination, they hoped that I could study economics like them, which would make my life more stable. After I told them that I wanted to study art, and discussed it with them, they started to understand what I was thinking. Although they don’t know much about illustrations and tattoos, they always believed in my decision and gave me all the support along the way.

At the same time, there are peers and friends around who help each other. Like my partner, Tianqi. It’s not easy when your partner also has the same career as you. But we always discuss our artistic ideas together. When I was confused, he encouraged me and gave me inspiration and ideas. When I don’t want to create more works, his creative enthusiasm will move me, so that I can pick up my pen again and continue to make art.

Website: https://www.zhiyuyou.net/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zyuyou_art/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhiyu-you/

Image Credits
Parrotfish & Cherry Blossoms AD: Stefan G. Bucher Client: Zócalo Public Square Sweetlip Fish & Poppies AD: Stefan G. Bucher Client: Zócalo Public Square