Tumi Mokopane Yanxi Li

As a multi-disciplinary artist, much of my work is inspired by the everevolving trials and tribulations of what is to be human, with key themes such as mental health and identity being integral to my artwork. I aim to provoke viewers to leave with a deeper emotional connection to themselves, looking within. I explore these ideas in my practice through digital illustration, focusing on condensing these complex subject matters in a balanced way through animation and my keen passion for 3D illustrations. This can be seen in my project, ‘The Fretful Fish of Worrywater Bay’, a playful 3D illustrative children’s book that follows a fish learning to stand up to his anxieties and face the tide, teaching children that it is okay to worry and that we can all be brave.

Furthermore, I believe that in creativity, there is the power to evoke emotion and share a part of yourself that may have stayed hidden without that outlet, which can be seen in my animation ‘The Shape of Loneliness’, an interview with my 17-year-old brother on what loneliness is to him. I aimed to create something deeply personal but with a message many could relate to, aided by visuals that help balance out such a moving topic. What is the shape of loneliness to you?

As an illustrator, my communication design practices are usually in the form of children’s picture books and illustrated books. Observation and imagination are the basis of my creation. Most of them come from my daily life and the world observed. And care if the world I live in can change for the better. In my design practice, telling stories with visual language in traditional illustration is what keep learning and improving. especially pay attention to compositions, sequences and narratives in my silent picture book, A Package for Lily. By depicting a Courier delivering a package, I would like to show the reader a new world in harmony with animals and nature. Also, I am interested in how psychoanalytical theories guide the illustration practice. As an imaginative designer, I am curious about the boundary between dreaming and imagination, and I study that further in my critical journal. In my studio work, mainly draw in watercolour, and I combine different materials, such as colour pencils, ink, brush, pen, tissue, etc. to enrich the details of the picture.