Meet Beiyan Hu

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

Hi Beiyan, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
About why I chose an art career and became an illustrator, in a way, I must thank my time during my undergraduate. At that time, I majored in history, and it broadened my horizons and guided me to this decision. History is a major that is inherently about valuing human being and their experiences. Wandering through history, I am also sensitive to diversity. I realized the variety of human lives in the beautiful world and deeply understood what cultural diversity offered us.

Sometimes I found that written words and verbal language were too limited to express my innermost thoughts, and illustration bridges this gap wonderfully. Illustration not only helps people to express untranslatable thoughts but also creates new space. When I am drawing, it is like making a language of my own with lines and colors. Not only that, given that illustration is the art that accompanies storytelling, it also allows its audience to grasp a whole or part of the story in one moment in a single image.

Image is the universal language in the world. My illustration could become a channel for me to communicate with the world. This is the power of illustration as a kind of language, and that’s why I have chosen it as my concentration.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As I mentioned before, illustration is a universal language. So I want to use my illustrations to inspire my readers and touch their hearts. This is what I want to present to the world in my works.

The “Inspire” can come in many different forms. It can be new knowledge for readers, such as the catalog posters I created about birds. Through detailed illustrations and the scientific names of birds, these posters can allow everyone to understand the common birds around them more intuitively.

The “Inspire” can also be thinking about philosophy. In my poem and Illustration “Time”, I used a traveler who never stops to refer to time, depicting my thoughts on the rapid passage of time but people’s inability to grasp time. My children’s book White Space In the Night Sky is a story about rabbits looking for the moon and why the moon waxes and wanes. For children, they will read an interesting adventure story about the moon and rabbits. For adult readers, I hope they will have their unique reflections on how to interpret a work after reading this picture book. During the creation process of the comic book “Magic Garden”, I wanted to explore a question: If there is a magic garden where can you choose the path of your future, and what would you do? I also gave my answer in the book: even when facing an unknown future, we can create the meaning of life with our daily activities instead of indulging in pure imagination.

The “Inspire” can also just be a kind of thinking about beauty. I am a Pattern Designer. When creating patterns, all I want to do is combine the elements I want and give them colors that fit the theme. I also like to create clay sculptures and installation art to express my inner fantasy world.

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?
I currently live in Baltimore. This is a beautiful seaport city with a long history and diverse cultural atmosphere.

For sightseeing, if my friends come to Baltimore for a week, I will take them to the Inner Harbor, which is the most prosperous area of ​​Baltimore. There are many ships moored on the sea, and there are the National Aquarium and Maryland Science Center nearby to visit.

I also take them walking in the city and look at graffiti on the streets: they are very interesting, and you can see from them the feelings that different creators want to express and the beauty they want to convey to the world.

I will also take them to visit the MICA campus, including my dormitory and studio, and tell them about my experience of studying and living at MICA.

Of course, I will also take them to visit the Walters Art Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art. These two museums contain many valuable collections and are well worth a visit.

For food, I will take them to some of my favorite restaurants. I will take them to Thames Street Oyster House in the Inner Harbor to try their fresh and delicious oysters. I’ll also take them to Topside, which is a high-rise restaurant with a panoramic view of downtown Baltimore, including nearby monuments and churches.

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?
On my journey to become an artist, many people support me, including my friends, my family, and many others who have encouraged me – every like on my work will make me happy for a long time.

But what I want to thank most are my professors and classmates in the MA Illustration program at Maryland Institute College of Art. As an amateur artist, this was my first formal study of art in college. I was a little anxious at first: Can I make it? Will they like my artwork? However, my professors and classmates often encouraged me and gave me confidence. Of course, they did not praise me blindly. They put forward many practical suggestions for modifications to my work, and always supported me in exploring my style and finding the field that interested me. So I’m very grateful for this experience and my friends and professors.

Website: https://www.beiyanartwork.com/

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

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/beiyan-hu-07021430b