Meet Han Yang
Meet Han Yang, a London-based Chinese visual artist and photographer whose work fuses traditional Chinese elements with contemporary themes. Her art, focusing on femininity, the human body, gender, and technology, employs oriental symbols to delve into human emotion and psychological intricacies. Recognized with several prestigious awards, including the Women’s Emerging Artist Award and the SONY Young Photographer Award, Han’s creative expression challenges the norms of conventional art.
This January, Han will present her latest exhibition, Culture Identified: Global SinoPhoto Awards Revisited 2020–2024, curated by Sebah Chaudhry. The event is scheduled to take place at Christie’s, 8 King Street, London, from January 13 to January 31, 2025. It will feature a selection of Han’s significant works from the past four years, offering insights into her ongoing exploration of cultural identity and the impact of technology on art.
We had the opportunity to speak with Han ahead of her upcoming exhibition at Christie’s, delving into her creative process, the cultural narratives behind her art, and how she continues to redefine contemporary visual expression.
How do your personal history and cultural identity influence the themes captured in your art?
My personal history and cultural identity are central to the themes in my art. Growing up in China, I was shaped by a blend of traditional values and the rapid societal changes of modernity. This duality often informs my work, as I explore the tension between heritage and progress. My experiences navigating cultural shifts have inspired me to examine concepts like identity, femininity, and the connection between humans and the environment.
Elements of Chinese philosophy and aesthetics, such as nature’s symbolism—flowers, birds, and organic textures—are woven into my pieces. At the same time, moving to London allowed me to view my identity through a global lens, blending Eastern traditions with contemporary, cross-cultural narratives. This intersection creates a unique foundation for my art, allowing me to delve into universal themes while staying true to my roots. My work aims to reflect this complexity, inviting viewers to explore both the personal and the collective human experience.
Vulnerability, 2020, Han Yang @yanghanphoto
What draws you to blend technology with visual art, and how do you select the specific technologies to use in your projects?
What draws me to blend technology with visual art is its ability to push boundaries and create dialogues between the organic and the artificial, the traditional and the modern. Technology allows me to explore themes like identity, transformation, and the evolving relationship between humans and their environments in ways that transcend the limits of conventional photography. It opens up a realm of possibilities for storytelling, where the visual and conceptual intersect. The choice of specific technologies depends on the narrative of the project. For instance, if the theme revolves around digital identity or posthumanism, I might integrate 3D modeling, digital illustration, or AI-generated elements to emphasize the interplay between the human and non-human. On the other hand, for projects that focus on intimacy or nostalgia, I often rely on traditional film photography and minimal post-processing to retain a raw, organic feel.
Ultimately, I choose tools that align with the emotional and conceptual needs of the project. For me, technology is not just a medium—it’s a collaborator that helps bring abstract ideas into tangible, immersive experiences, offering new perspectives to both myself and the audience.
Confusion, 2019, Han Yang @yanghanphoto
Transformation, 2019, Han Yang @yanghanphoto
When initiating a new project, what is your process for integrating fashion elements, and how do you see these elements interacting with the broader themes of your work?
When initiating a new project, I approach fashion as a narrative tool that complements and enhances the broader themes of my work. The process begins with defining the concept—whether it’s exploring vulnerability, transformation, or the relationship between humanity and technology. From there, I carefully select fashion elements, such as garments, textures, and silhouettes, that align with the emotional tone and visual language of the project.
For instance, flowing fabrics and organic shapes might symbolize fragility or connection to nature, while structured garments or metallic textures can evoke themes of strength, artificiality, or futurism. Fashion becomes more than an aesthetic—it’s a way to extend the narrative beyond the subject, creating a dynamic interplay between the individual and their surroundings.
These elements interact with the broader themes by reinforcing the symbolism in my work. Fashion connects cultural, historical, and emotional layers, bridging the personal with the universal. It allows me to highlight contrasts—tradition versus modernity, softness versus rigidity—while providing a tactile, visual representation of the concepts I’m exploring. Ultimately, fashion in my projects is a collaborator in storytelling, transforming the visual into a multi-dimensional experience.
Future Encounters, 2020, Han Yang @yanghanphoto
Future Encounters, 2020, Han Yang @yanghanphoto
Artistic collaboration can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary, especially when incorporating unconventional themes like cyborgs and non-human elements. Could you describe how you choose your collaborators and what these collaborations contribute to your projects?
Artistic collaboration is a cornerstone of my creative practice, especially when exploring the intersections of gender studies, posthumanism, and digital bodies. My collaborators come from diverse dimensions of the queer community, cyborg theory, and nonhuman elements, each embodying unique cultural concepts and philosophical significance. Together, they reflect Rosi Braidotti’s vision of posthuman subjectivity, emphasizing horizontal collective alliances that resist anthropocentrism, patriarchal privilege, social hierarchies, and dualistic divisions of subject and object.
For instance, my collaboration with the queer community centers on challenging binary definitions of gender and celebrating the uniqueness of identity, particularly for marginalized gender groups. Each queer collaborator, coming from different cultural backgrounds, contributes their voice and experiences, which deserve amplification, societal visibility, and respect. Through a mix of interviews, documentary-style photography, portraits, and AI-generated imagery, I recontextualize their stories and their understandings of gender and the body. This multimedia approach offers new visual narratives, evoking a posthuman sensory experience while contributing academic knowledge and visual materials to queer communities within the framework of posthuman theory.
In my collaboration with cyborgs, I explore Donna Haraway’s cyborg theory as a visual experiment. The cyborg, a hybrid of machine and human, symbolizes the breakdown of gender boundaries and embodies the vitality of technological innovation. Cyborgs hold a pivotal role in the theoretical and practical development of posthumanism. Through 3D modeling, AI-generated non-human body elements, and composite recreations, I examine the cyborg as a digital entity. In my work, cyborgs represent the ongoing impact of technology on gender and identity, highlighting its transformative potential.
My collaboration with nonhuman elements, such as mold, involves using its fluid and adaptive nature as a creative medium. Mold reacts to variations in temperature, humidity, time, and light, producing diverse forms, colors, and textures. These organic transformations disrupt and interact with traditional film photography, altering the distribution and representation of the human subject. This collaboration underscores the idea that bodies, life, and gender are not static but continually evolving and reshaping through interactions with non-human elements. By incorporating mold’s dynamic agency into my work, I aim to convey that identity and representation are in constant flux, formed through infinite combinations and collaborations.
These collaborations are not only creative but also deeply theoretical, providing a platform to challenge traditional boundaries and expand the understanding of gender, identity, and subjectivity in a posthuman world. They contribute to visual storytelling that transcends the human perspective, creating space for new ways of seeing and experiencing.
Nonhuman fashion photography presents a radical shift from conventional forms. How do you define this approach in your work, and in what ways do you think it disrupts conventional narratives within fashion photography?
Nonhuman fashion photography in my work is an exploration of the boundaries between the organic and the artificial, the human and the nonhuman. It reimagines fashion not just as something that adorns the body, but as a conceptual medium that interacts with technology, nature, and philosophical ideas. This approach involves integrating elements like cyborg-inspired aesthetics, AI-generated forms, and non-human collaborators such as mold, to challenge the traditional anthropocentric focus of fashion photography.
By incorporating non-human elements, I aim to disrupt the conventional narratives that often prioritize idealized human beauty and static representations of identity. For instance, using mold as a collaborator, I explore the transient and ever-changing nature of form, creating imagery where the non-human interacts with the human subject to reshape the visual landscape. Similarly, cyborg aesthetics allow me to push beyond the binary notions of gender and identity, presenting fashion as a space for hybridity and transformation.
This approach redefines fashion photography by introducing fluidity, impermanence, and multiplicity into its visual language. It challenges the viewer to rethink what is natural, what is artificial, and how both coexist in shaping our understanding of identity and representation. By doing so, non-human fashion photography not only disrupts but expands the possibilities of what fashion can mean in the context of art and culture.
Given your expertise in diverse visual techniques, how do you decide which technique to use for a specific theme?
Deciding which visual technique to use for a specific theme begins with understanding the core message I want to convey. Each theme demands a unique emotional tone and conceptual framework, and I carefully align my techniques to amplify these elements. My choice is influenced by the nature of the subject, the narrative depth, and the intended sensory experience for the audience.
For example, if I’m exploring themes of identity and transformation, I might incorporate 3D modeling or AI-generated imagery to symbolize fluidity and hybridity. These techniques allow me to push beyond the physical and delve into abstract representations of human and non-human interactions. On the other hand, when addressing themes like vulnerability or nostalgia, I often rely on traditional film photography, with minimal post-processing, to capture raw and organic textures that evoke intimacy and authenticity.
Sometimes, a project demands the integration of multiple techniques. For instance, in exploring the relationship between humans and technology, I might combine digital illustration, animation, and photography, layering these elements to create a surreal and immersive narrative. In projects involving non-human elements, such as mold or AI, I let the collaborators—whether biological or technological—guide the process, allowing their inherent unpredictability to shape the final work.
Ultimately, the decision lies in finding the technique that best complements the emotional and conceptual depth of the theme. Each technique serves as a tool to tell a story, evoke emotion, and create a sensory dialogue with the viewer, ensuring that the visuals resonate on both an intellectual and emotional level.
Art often reflects and engages with societal attitudes and cultural interpretations. How do you handle the varied interpretations of your work in different cultural and exhibition contexts?
Art is deeply personal yet universally open to interpretation, and I welcome the varied ways my work is understood in different cultural and exhibition contexts. Each viewer brings their own experiences and cultural background, which adds richness to the dialogue between the artwork and its audience. These interpretations are not obstacles but opportunities to connect and discover new perspectives.
When presenting my work, I focus on conveying core themes like identity, vulnerability, and the relationship between humans and the non-human world in ways that resonate broadly. At the same time, I’m mindful of how certain elements, such as references to Eastern philosophy or futuristic visuals, may hold different meanings depending on the cultural setting.
To address this, I provide some context through titles or brief statements to help viewers engage with the work. However, I intentionally leave room for them to form their own connections and interpretations. I value the unexpected insights that arise, as they often reveal layers of meaning I hadn’t consciously considered. For me, art is about starting conversations, bridging cultural differences, and encouraging reflection, both individually and collectively.
Which artists or movements have been significant influences on your work, and how do these shape your creative process?
Several artists and movements have significantly influenced my work, shaping both my creative process and the themes I explore. Gregory Colbert and Robert Mapplethorpe stand out as two pivotal influences, alongside movements like surrealism, ecofeminism, and posthuman theory.
Gregory Colbert’s poetic imagery, particularly in Ashes and Snow, inspires me with its profound exploration of the connection between humans and the natural world. His ability to convey a sense of harmony, vulnerability, and timelessness resonates deeply with my interest in the relationship between humanity and nature. His work encourages me to use stillness, symbolism, and a meditative approach in storytelling, allowing space for reflection and connection in my imagery.
On the other hand, Robert Mapplethorpe’s mastery of form, light, and texture has profoundly shaped my visual language. His exploration of the human body as both an object of beauty and a medium for self-expression aligns with my focus on identity, gender, and vulnerability. His boldness in challenging societal norms and his technical precision inspire me to balance aesthetic rigor with emotional depth, creating imagery that is both striking and thought-provoking.
Movements like surrealism and conceptual art, combined with the writings of thinkers like Donna Haraway and Rosi Braidotti, provide the theoretical framework for much of my work. The dreamlike abstraction of surrealism influences my visual style, while ecofeminism and posthumanism push me to explore themes of hybridity, transformation, and the interplay between humans, technology, and non-human elements.
Traditional Chinese aesthetics, particularly in landscapes and bird-and-flower painting, also inform my use of natural elements and symbolism. This influence allows me to connect my cultural heritage with broader, universal themes of transience and harmony, bridging the past and present in my work.
Together, these influences—Colbert’s poetic naturalism, Mapplethorpe’s daring formalism, and the philosophical and cultural movements that shape my worldview—form the foundation of my creative process. They inspire me to craft imagery that is both visually captivating and deeply resonant, inviting viewers to explore complex themes and emotions.
Yuhua Stone, 2023, Han Yang @yanghanphoto
Divine Punishment, 2023, Han Yang @yanghanphoto
Romantic Memories, 2022, Han Yang @yanghanphoto
As you look to the future, are there specific themes or technologies you are particularly interested in exploring? How do you envision these influencing your artistic development?
As I look to the future, I’m particularly interested in exploring themes of identity, hybridity, and the evolving relationship between humans and technology. These themes align with my ongoing curiosity about posthumanism, gender fluidity, and the ways technological advancements reshape our understanding of the self and the body. I want to delve deeper into how emerging technologies, like AI, 3D modeling, and generative art, can expand the boundaries of visual storytelling and challenge conventional narratives.
One area I’m eager to explore is the intersection of non-human and human elements, using technologies to create visual dialogues that blur the lines between organic and artificial. For instance, I plan to experiment further with AI-generated imagery to reconstruct identities and integrate digital aesthetics with traditional photography. These tools allow for new interpretations of form, texture, and emotion, pushing my work into multidimensional and immersive spaces.
Additionally, I’m drawn to ecological themes and how art can address the climate crisis and the interconnectedness of all living things. Collaborating with non-human elements, such as organic materials, and using sustainable practices in the creation of visual art are ways I hope to contribute meaningfully to this discourse.
I envision these explorations influencing my artistic development by introducing more collaborative, cross-disciplinary approaches and encouraging me to challenge the limitations of traditional mediums. These technologies and themes will not only shape the content of my work but also redefine how I think about the role of an artist in an increasingly interconnected and digital world.
