Icy Qiao

Icy Qiao (b.1997) is a London-based animation director, 2D & stop-motion animator, and illustration artist from China. She received her Bachelor's degree in Animation from the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts (2020), and is currently doing MA Narrative Animation in Royal College of Art.

Her themes are often drawn from personal experience, social psychology, and philosophy. Her works are not limited to a single medium and often include live-action, 2D animation, stop-motion animation, motion graphics, and installation. She sees her creation as a healing process; creating a conversation with the viewers through the dissection of memory and self.

As an Asian artist, Icy Qiao's work is influenced by her own experiences and the social psychology phenomena in East Asia, including the great mother family structure, which is the opposite of the paternal society, pathological symbiosis, and giant baby psychology. She reflects on these issues from her own point of view by dissecting herself and regards her creative process as a kind of psychoanalysis. She believes that art is the most direct and sincere way of expression, through which the viewer can communicate with the author spiritually.

She considers herself a storyteller and tries to explore the boundary between animation and narrative. Instead of limiting herself to the field of traditional animation, she often adds other media to her works, such as live-action and installation, and tries to break the logic of linear narrative in terms of narrative techniques. The core of her creation is the expression and transmission of emotions.