Artist Interview with Jo Yeh

Meet Jo Yeh. Jo is one of the participating artists in the 6 Degrees Exhibition and a current MFA student at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. We were immediately captured by Jo's illustrations, her sense of color, story-telling, and influence of place in her work, and we are excited to share her work and celebrate her unique practice!



Could you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

I was born in Taiwan, a tropical island country in Asia. There, the students’ academic performances in schools mean almost everything, especially in the urban areas, so almost every student has to go to cram schools after school to study more, and has no time to develop personal interests. Luckily, I grew up in a remote countryside in southern Taiwan, so I did not have that much stress. I could spend most of my after-school hours on my interests—reading and drawing—instead of going to cram schools, and here was the start of my art life.

I just received my BFA in communications design from Taiwan’s Shih Chien University in 2013, and I’m currently studying in the MFA program in Minneapolis College of Art and Design, focusing on illustration. When I was in college, I did mostly digital animations and I found myself really enjoying writing scripts and drawing storyboards, and I spent most of my time on those parts of the process. Therefore, after I graduated, I decided to pursue a career as a narrative and story-based illustrator.

Could you tell me about your art practice? What is studio time like for you and where do you find your inspirations?

I try my best to work on something everyday. In general, I have two kinds of working process. Sometimes I start with writing sentences or key words. When I write my ideas down, the images will subsequently appear in my head. Other times, when I have nothing specific, I start with doodling in my sketchbooks. My grandmother was a farmer and when we were living in the countryside, she planted different kinds of vegetables and flowers in our backyard, and I did many sketches of them. I keep this habit even now, I still draw flowers often, and they usually become the patterns in my work. After I moved to the city of Taipei, I carried my sketchbooks with me when I was taking buses or subways, and I drew portraits of random people on public transportations—there are always interesting people doing weird things on subways in every city. So, if I find something with potentials in my sketchbooks, I will develop it further to make it into a complete image. For example, the piece called “You Will Still Be Mine Next Winter” came from such place.

Most of my inspirations come from my daily life. Sometimes the idea just hit me when I am having a casual conversation with my friends, or a friend’s post on Facebook can also bring me some ideas. Because of its colonial past and geographical proximity, Taiwan is deeply affected by Japanese culture, so I also read a lot of Japanese fairy tales, ghost stories and comics, which also serve as inspirations sometimes.


You Will Still Be Mine Next Winter

Can you tell me about the piece you created for the 6 Degrees Exhibition. What is the significance/story behind the image?

“The Southland” is the piece I submitted to the 6 Degrees Exhibition. The elements (window frames, bougainvillea, swallows) in this image are all everyday objects that I could see on the street when I was a little girl. To me, the combination of these elements is a typical image of Taiwan. However, after I moved to the city, these things became more and more rare to see. The woman in the image is my great-grandmother, who passed away when I was in second grade. My memory of her is very blurry, and the only thing I can remember is that she had very long hair, and she always used chopsticks to pin her hair bun. This piece kind of represents my memory of childhood and the early era of Taiwan.


The Southland

It seems that most of your work is inspired by culture, your surroundings, and personal experience. Even viewing your work from home to your life in Minneapolis the color pallet, weather, and scenes in your stories have drastically changed. Can you talk about this relationship of place to piece?

It is a little bit difficult to me to work on themes that have no direct connection/relation to me. As I mentioned, my inspirations come from my daily life, so my work is usually related to the environment I am in, things that happened to me, or some issues I am interested in currently. I project a lot of personal emotions and experiences into my work—For example, It rains a lot in Taipei, so rainy scenes appear in my work quite often when I was living there. Also, the streets in Taipei are full of artificial colors—neon lights, yellow cabs, green and red postal boxes, etc.—so I used bright colors more often before I came to Minneapolis. The snowy winter is a challenge, but also very fresh and new to me as an international student from a tropical country. Therefore, after I moved to Minneapolis, I use colder colors more, such as blue and purple, and snowy sciences start to appear in my work.

All of your work is beautifully made with such a powerful image- they are poetic. Do you have an art philosophy or idea of what art images should include?

In my recent works, I tried to visualize the subtle relationships among people. The themes mostly surround some specific human emotions such as separation, loneliness, longing and yearning. Because of the themes I have chosen, I would say I hope my viewer can feel the same as I do.

You are currently a MFA student at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. What has that meant for a new community, group of peers, and teachers. Has this drastically affected your work?

Yes. My mentor gives me precise advice as a professional illustrator, which really helps me a lot to improve and create more mature work. Besides, I am happy to be in a brand new learning environment. The way it works in Western culture is quite different from Asian culture; all the teachers and students here at MCAD are very willing to share and discuss ideas and works with each other. It is helpful to gain different feedbacks from different people with different cultural backgrounds and professional areas. Some of the suggestions I received are really out of my expectations and surprised me. I think this is a very precious experience, which allows me to look at my work with different perspectives and even develop newer concepts for my future work.


Blue Mountain with Magic Power

What is the best piece of advice (for creators) that you have ever heard?

I have read an artist’s interview in a book once. The artist was asked the question of when did he start to be an artist, and his answer was that he was already an artist when he made his decision to be one. I think that answer kind of made me determined to be an artist.

This time of year, especially, we are thinking about deadlines, new goals, motivation, and changes. Do you have any goals or projects for the New Year?

I am writing a new story called “Joseph Paul” which talks about the Internet-addicted young generation. The story is almost there but not quite, and creating the illustrations for it is going to be the major project for me in the next few months.

Thanks, Jo! It is incredible to see about your illustrations and transitions in your work, as well as hear your personal ideas of making, influence of location, and story-telling.

You can see more of Jo Yeh's work on her website here. Or see her work for the 6 Degrees Exhibition along with the other 80+ works on the 6 Degrees Digital Gallery or Light Grey Shop.

Create, Concept, and Collaborate Recap!

Wow! Create, Concept, & Collaborate is already over, and it was a huge success! This past weekend we were honored to have the incredibly talented duo of Mike Yamada and Victoria Ying visit us at Light Grey Art Lab to host a weekend workshop dedicated to visual development. As Visual Development Artists at Walt Disney Animation Studios, Mike and Victoria brought with them an incredible wealth of talent, experience, and insight.



The weekend kicked off with a public lecture in the Minneapolis College of Art and Design's auditorium, which was packed to the brim with excited artists. Mike and Victoria gave a great introduction on what it actually means to create visual development and concept work for a company like Disney. Their body of work is hugely impressive and it was a great lecture! You can listen to the full lecture it on the latest podcast episode, here.


A packed house over at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design!


Mike and Victoria share upcoming projects, animation stills, and concept art for Disney Animation Studios.

Afterwards, everyone moved down the street to Glam Doll Donuts, where we had a bustling All Creatives Meet & Greet. Spirits were high, fueled by Glam Dolls delectable donuts and plenty of coffee. It was a great event, and the people at Glam Doll happily dealt with the throngs of hungry artists like pros.


Artists line up to talk to Mike and Victoria, say hello to each other, and fill up on some delicious donuts!

The first day started bright and early, with introductions and an opener discussion with Mike and Victoria about personal work, their brainchild Extracurricular Activities, and sharing the portfolios that got them into the industry. Mike and Victoria highlighted some of their favorite pieces to date, shared current and in process works, and the differences in their personal and professional works. It was wonderful to see the changes from project to project!



Then, Light Grey led a series of workshop exercises, focusing on experimentation and exploration in story-telling. Splitting into groups, each team was given a short prompt and challenge to create a children's story with limited resources- Rorschach ink blots! As a humorous ice-breaker, this was a perfect project to start the day: it focused on group improv, brainstorming, and creative problem solving. The exercise was followed by reflective worksheets and discussion on project ideation.


Groups work on creating a playful and quick children's story, all with ink blots and abstract shapes!


A giant and fun brainstorming session to get all of us awake and thinking.

After a breezy outdoor lunch at Jasmine Deli and a coffee break at the Spyhouse, boardgame art director Mike Linnemann came by and talked about the relationship between art directors and participating artists. Mike is a bright and honest guy, not to mention an incredibly experienced and prolific director. Along with a presentation, students were able to peek at a few of the games and card decks Mike has helped produce.



Following Mike Linnemann's talk, Victoria led an incredible character building demo, where she talked about the shapes, relationships, and dynamics to think about when creating interesting character.





Victoria creates her version of Hansel and Gretel, showing how she ideates, creates characters, and builds personas.

The demo ended with a project prompt for a character building exercise, which the class worked on while each participant started in their one-on-one (or one-on-two, in this case) chats with Mike and Victoria. Individual students were able sit down ask questions, review their portfolio, and talk about their personal work.



After a long day, the whole workshop walked to Uptown's Chino Latino for some great food and some much needed R&R. We reflected on the day over colorful and exotic dishes and fun drinks!



Sunday morning started with an open and honest discussion about social media, promotion and marketing. This was a round-table discussion, and each person had great things to say about their personal experience, thoughts on promotion, useful and inspiring tools, and resources. From books to podcasts to online articles, this discussion was both insightful and necessary- shedding light on some of the most wondered and important questions. It was a very positive conversation, fueled by the variety of past experiences of participants, Mike and Victoria, and the Light Grey team.


Erik Krenz sharing his views on tumblr and social media.


So much enthusiasm!

Next, Mike led a lively landscape, character and painting demo. We all watched in awe as Mike effortlessly painted his interactive characters and background. He shared his personal techniques and tricks for painting in photoshop, as well as creating dynamic and informative compositions.



After the demonstration, we packed our bags and headed to Midtown Global Market for a quick and delicious bite to eat! Midtown is one of our favorite places to get lunch because of its endless and unique entrees, bubble teas, and handmade crafts. During lunch, we were able to relax and talk about our experiences so far, developing stories, and talk about our plan for the afternoon work session.



With the day half over, the group quickly got back to work! They spent the afternoon developing and working through their character building project. The review meetings continued throughout the afternoon, along with peer revisions, conversations, and a few Light Grey tarot readings!


Busy at work!


Partners were able to critique characters and look an each others work.

To close the day, Mike and Victoria walked through a portfolio building presentation, outlining the do's and don't's of portfolio creation, tips for unifying work, and how to make a portfolio a "reflection of yourself." The talk was not only about creating a portfolio, but how to share it, where to bring your portfolio, and how to get noticed. After a two full days of working, this was a perfect cap to share hopes and plans for the future.

To celebrate the weekend and new friends, the group moved to the Lowry for a great dinner and to give out final goodbyes. There were several drawing contests, such as "Cutest Kitten", or "Batman With Your Eyes Closed". Information was exchanged, including a hypothetical conversation about future workshops and dream projects.




Overall, it was an incredible weekend with so many talented and motivated individuals! Thank you to all of our participants, as well as those who were able to attend the lecture, meet & greet, or parts of the class! To see the entire collection of photographs from the weekend, you can check out the flickr gallery.

You can see more artwork by Victoria Ying and Mike Yamada here!

Concept Art Workshop and All Creatives Meet and Greet

Gear up for an excited and inspiring weekend at Light Grey Art Lab!

We are thrilled to host a series of open events in correspondence with out Create, Concept, and Collaborate Workshop with Victoria Ying and Mike Yamada.


Marakeesh by Victoria Ying

To kick off the workshop, we are hosting a free public lecture this Friday at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (Auditorium 150) at 7pm. Hear Mike and Victoria talk about their experience in the concept art world, what it is like working for Disney Animation Studios, working as part of a collaborative team, and about their personal projects, Extracurricular Activities! Following the hour long lecture, will be a Q & A, where attendees are welcome to ask questions about their studio practice, work, current projects, etc.


Mike Yamada

At 8:30pm we will make our way over to Glam Doll Donuts for an All Creatives Meet & Greet! Get your donuts, get your coffees, and teas, and spend the evening getting to know other artists in the local area, as well as from around the country! You are welcome and encouraged to bring business cards, promotional materials, and a notebook to take down any information! All creatives are invited, so feel free to stop by and say hello!

To read more about the lecture and Meet & Greet, see our facebook event here!


All Creatives Meet & Greet, January 2013

The workshop will take place all weekend! We are very excited for this boot-camp-esque class, where students are able to make work, have one on one critiques, business discussions, and more!

Do to the events and classroom setting, we will NOT have gallery hours this weekend! Feel free to stop next week or check out the In Place Exhibition on the online shop and gallery.

We hope to see you here!