Yiwei Chen is an animator and illustrator from China, currently lived in London.
Yiwei Chen graduated from the China Academy of Art in 2021 with a degree in Digital Media. She is currently completing her MA in Animation at the Royal College of Art. As an independent animator, her animation is usually in 2D animation. Her inspiration and themes are frequently drawn from interviewing, psychology, and feminism.
Emotions, memories and self-reflection are a great source of inspiration for my creative work. I am used to observing and experiencing my emotions in the moment; I will quietly feel the different emotions flowing through me and discover what they are saying, which often gives me a truer understanding of myself and what I want to say to the audience. I usually work on the script while feeling the emotions; each script is like a documentary of my emotions at the time, and then I revise it to make sure the emotions are expressed accurately.
I'm used to working with 2D animation, and I like to express a particular emotion or feeling through storytelling. The materials I use to draw affect the atmosphere of the story. I try to use different materials such as watercolor, soft pastels, colored pencils, etc. and I try to find ways to explore different emotions through different materials in my creations.
This project was inspired by my childhood experiences and dreams. I felt that my inner child had been wrapped in a cocoon for years while she struggled to be seen by me. I try to explore traumatic memories based on my own childhood experiences, which are often chaotic, broken and illogical.
The content of the story basically explores the psychological effects on the child of emotional neglect by the caregiver. I tried to express the emotions of confusion, indifference and abandonment in the film. And with the help of my therapist, I tried to delve into my traumatic memories and subconscious mind to detect more accurate emotions. It will be a journey of self-discovery.
These are photos taken during the making of Cocoon. I basically hand painted the colours using soft pastels and I had to wear a dust mask while working due to the materials I was using.
