Exquisite Arts Magazine Vol 1 - July/ August 2016 | Page 21

If you had to choose one of your pieces,
which one would be your favorite and
why?
It would be “The Dialogue with Zaha Hadid,” my
first contemporary art project from 2013. Though it
may not be my best one, it definitely impresses me
the most.
Zaha is my very favorite designer. She is the first
female architectural designer that won the Pulitzer
Prize. Apart from her works, I also admire her
perspective and approach towards issues.
Someone said that she is stubborn and paranoid. I
however, just admire her being stubborn and
paranoid, which perhaps is exactly the factor that
helps people achieve success in this generallyimpetuous society.

Your collection entitled “In Between”
has a profound meaning behind its
creation; it relates to feminine strength &
bravery. Why did you choose to explore
this concept in your work & how
important is gender equality to you?
I believe that it is important to be treated as an equal.
The past history lets us know about every non-ceased
effort made by our predecessors for gender equality.
However, we have never achieved gender equality
entirely. For a long time, the unspoken meaning of
“gender equality” seems to be that “the promotion of
a woman’s worth is equal to suppress and depreciate
men.” So each time when someone is delivering a
speech of feminism, he or she is cast aside by men or
protested by the women. The cases of our
predecessors made me realize that it is really difficult
to pursue true gender equality. I believe this,
therefore, what we can do now is to do our things well
and make ourselves strong. I designed jewelry into
armor and expect women to be protected from harm.
We should try to be strong women and make great
achievements. Moreover, it is certain that women and
men are different. No one is strong or weak and we
simply have different roles.
Although the modern society has many disadvantages,
our predecessors from the past made sacrifices to
achieve gender equality. Now most of us can live in an
environment with relatively correct ideas and a free
atmosphere. We have more space to develop a
professional career. Thus, women now should not
impose restriction on us. We must believe in ourselves
to be women that can break more rules.

You are very ambitious, you migrated to the
United States from China to pursue your
dreams. What advice do you have for others
who want to pursue their dreams but might be
afraid of taking risks?
There is a Chinese saying that “the first step is always the
hardest.” We should always make a start first and maybe
concerns can be easily solved then.

Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
While developing my own professional career, I wish to
take part in certain charity activities related to children. For
me, I believe that people are born equal. And children no
matter from what background, deserve to enjoy a happy
childhood and proper education.
Additionally, I hope to create my own brand and let more
people know about me.

What do you like to do for fun?
I like to go back to nature. Anything about nature will make
me feel fun and comfortable.

Where can potential buyers and fans purchase
your work?
All of my new and latest work can be found here:

www.meiyi-yang.com

Photo: Elizabeth Lamark

Page 21