Meet Yiling Zeng | Independent animation director

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

Hi Yiling, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
Take a break, step back from what I’m currently on. Ask myself two questions. First off, am I creating anything that surprises me? Or am I just doing repetitive work? And more importantly, will I eventually enjoy the experience? If the answers are yes, then keep going.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’ve been interested in drawing and painting since I was very little. Growing up in an Asian family, however, it wasn’t thought as ‘practical’ to become an artist. Luckily, I got support from my mom and went to art school. There I met so many talented peers and had my community.
Before I moved to the States in my early 20s, I’d spent my teenage years living in a suitcase between my divorced parents’ houses. I don’t think there is ever a place that I identify as my real home. How communication is conducted between individuals with and beyond literal language is an issue I’ve constantly dealt with in my family and as a bilingual. My work contains some level of autobiographical content masked by the invented reality and aims to contemplate on my personal life. I project my solitude, insecurity, perplexity, and anxiety on the characters. They act as eyes and feelers for me to investigate my struggles. In the meantime, their world provides a refuge for me to retreat from my traumatic memories.
My art practice focuses mainly on hand-drawn and stop-motion animations. I design different language systems for my characters to examine miscommunication and conflict. I am fascinated by looking into communicating in various forms other than written text, verbal sound, and body movements.
Flower Lantern in the Woods is my most recent work. It is my thesis film at California Institute of the Arts. The 6min cutout animation tells a story about a timid rabbit who roams in the woods looking for a proper shelter. Waked up by a gleam of light one night, she encounters a mysterious shadow. As the unforeseen danger approaches, a mouse with a flower lantern comes into her sight.
I didn’t start my career as an animation director. Instead, I was majored in engineering at college, which took me quite a while to figure out what I’m truly passionate about. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is to follow my heart. The path of life isn’t always a straight line. You might take a side way because of pressure from the society and conventions. But eventually, you live your life.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love plants and nature. There’s many great trails in LA as well. I would take my friend on a walk. We’ll also run into lots of birds and dogs, which is always my favorite part of going on trails. Huntington botanical garden is definitely a must-go for me.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to shoutout to Wes Anderson and his beautiful film Fantastic Mr. Fox. It was the very first reason that I wanted to make animation from the beginning when I was still in high school. I had no idea how stop motion was made back then but got inspired by the unique look of the film.
I’m very grateful for the teacher of the first stop motion class I took, Tiffany. That class was pretty basic. But I was introduced to a lot of amazing experimental animated films. Tiffany was really supportive and encouraging. I felt fearless about making bad things as I knew little about stop motion.
Also, a big shoutout to my animation community at my grad school. The support I’ve got from my peers and faculty members have been the source of my creative energy. It was really inspiring surrounded by a group of talented people who share the same enthusiasm for animation.

Website: https://yilingzeng.com

Instagram: @zengyiling_pipiman

Image Credits
behind the scene and profile photos by Qi Liu
behind the scene photo (during shooting) by Kangmin Kim