Huiyao Guan

Huiyao Guan is a communication artist who is interested in exploring the narrative power of ‘authenticity’ found in real stories and lived experiences. Her practice uses a broad range of media and approaches including experimental film, installation, documentary methods, performance and participatory art. 

Exploring subtle yet complex tensions underpinning the 'in-between states' has been a constantly recurring theme in her practice increasingly focusing on the relationships between language, writing, still and moving images.

Prior to her MA in Visual Communication (Experimental Communication Pathway) from the Royal College of Art, Huiyao graduated with a BA in Graphic Design from Camberwell College of Arts (2017).

‘Seeing reality and still being able to dream’ is a line in Agnes Denes’s artistic manifesto (1970). Its romantic, optimistic spirit and paradoxical nature has inspired me to adapt it as a point of departure in my own project. Initially, I saw it as a trigger to explore and reveal various conflicts in life through multiple interpretations of Denes’s words.

Another turning point was a poem by Fernando Pessoa. It invokes a kind of childlike vision, something I felt missing in my creative process for a long while. Consequently, I made a decision to no longer interpret the quote from the manifesto, but rather to embrace the theme of 'seeing reality and still being able to dream' more directly, reconnecting with artistic instinct as my main method. 

Non-fiction Script (short film)

Thinking about the shift to ‘childlike’ forms of expression brought me to think of my mother and our parent-child relationship. I decided to invite my mother to narrate the film based on the script written by me. As a result, the narration is delivered through her monologue, which a montage of my own reflections, Fernando Pessoa’ poetry and recollections of our earlier conversations, which together mimic and reimagine my mother's voice and perspective.

In parallel to acting as the narrator, my mother performs one of my ‘childlike’ ideas involving progressing towards each other from our current, geographically distant locations: Jiangmen in China and London in the United Kingdom. Consequently, the film unfolds as an open-ended walk shown in a series of intercuts of the clips from our two separate outings, merged with previously recorded footage invoking critical moments of reflection on my practice.