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DOWN TO A FINE ART Beijing-based Illustrator Fei Fei by Valerie Osipov
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stablished as an artist and illustrator, Fei Fei has always been inspired by the dynamic capital city. The Hunan native first moved to Beijing in 2016, after a program abroad in the US. In the time since completing her studies, Fei Fei has collaborated with several businesses like Vogue, Gung Ho! Pizza, Pang Mei Noodles and more, coloring brands with her whimsical and thought-provoking illustrations. During the day, she’s an in-house illustrator for a tech company, but after hours, you can find her organizing a handful of art markets spotlighting the underground creative community in the capital, while also working on her own personal pieces. We caught up with the charismatic artist about her art background, what she loves most about Beijing and some of her favorite projects. Tell us about your arts background. Was creativity always important to you while you were growing up? I completed a bachelor’s degree in Illustration and Printmaking in the US in 2015 and studied for a Masters in Fine Art at UAL Wimbledon for a year. But education aside, I’ve always liked drawing. It’s my way of looking, studying and learning about the world around me. Drawing came naturally to me as a kid; I’d spend hours drawing on the floor with chalk. Art lessons or art-related activities were definitely a major part of my childhood. I think from an early age it was instilled in me that studying art was very important. My parents once hired a full-time live-in art tutor for me over a summer holiday. Did you have your mind set on being an illustrator initially?
I guess the term illustrator came up when they were trying to fit us into various majors in university. I’ve always thought of myself as an artist, just because it’s such a big part of my life, but ever since I started working and making a living, ‘illustrator’ seems to be the title that suits me the most. What are your favorite mediums to work with?
Ink, watercolor and iPad/digital painting, to name a few.
Tell us about your favorite projects you’ve been a part of. I’m super into editorial illustration, the kind of illustration that works with a narrative. To express an opinion via visual metaphor always excites me. That being said, I’ve done two sets of illustrations for work that really made me happy. One was for the yearly report magazines at my work. The book content is very dry and filled with numbers; I often had to translate difficult terms into visuals to help make the magazine more readable and aesthetically pleasing. A similar project is the series of editorial illustrations I did for Medium – my good friend from university hooked me up with a few of those. The subjects include climate change and climate justice, racial stereotypes and what it means to be a woman in the contemporary world.
34 | MARCH 2020 | WWW.THATSMAGS.COM
