NY Art Life met and interviewed Chinese artist and actor Ring Yuqi Yang this week.

NEW YORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES, February 17, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Part of NY Art Life’s vision includes celebrating a diversity of artists who are changing the shape of what was once a closed-off art world. In order to make this vision a reality, NY Art Life recently spoke with up-and-coming Chinese artist and actor Ring Yuqi Yang about living an ‘art life,’ and their versatile journey. Ring Yuqi Yang is a multidisciplinary queer artist currently based in New York City and DC. Their foray into the art world was unorthodox. Unable to resist the siren call of theater and performance art, they tacked on a theatre minor in the end of their BS in Psychology at Syracuse University. Yuqi (Ring) then decided to commit to the art of classical theater at George Washington University. During this time, training at The Academy at STC (Shakespeare Theatre Company), they developed a passion for heightened language, stage combat, clown work, as well as movement-based theater. Since completing their studies, Yuqi has run back and forth between DC and NY, exploring how to blend their theater life and their multimedia endeavors. In 2022 they earned their qualification as an SAFD-certified actor combatant (Society of American Fight Directors), and they debuted a visual piece for Vanessa Chen’s collective exhibition What’s Your Name, as well as Silently, I am still here at George Washington university.

Yuqi also made their DC equity debut last year with the Hayes-nominated production Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare Theatre Company, directed by internationally acclaimed director Simon Godwin. This production was well-received by DC theater-goers and presses, with The Washington Post calling it “nothing but fun.” Aside from their onstage performances with the Much Ado About Nothing and Her Majesty and Sons: Richard II, the energetic actor has built a working relationship with other Asian artists in the media. They starred in Bakemono— the horror short, directed by Sumire Takamatsu and Jorge Lucas, which was a well-received and awarded entry at multiple festivals. Yuqi’s anticipated role in the 2023 film The Weeds will be their fifth time working with Chinese director Frank (Feng) Gao. The film, adapted from a true story, focuses on the legal battles embroiled by the racial conflict between Chinese restaurant owners and the Philadelphia government with the biased ‘curfew law.’ This culturally-important project is also joined by two times Oscar nominated, and the recipient of the 1974 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Feature) Kieth Merrill as Co-Executive Producer; and distinguished film scholar, and producer Zhou Tiedong. Yuqi was very proud to work on such an important project and continue their artistic partnership with the director Frank Gao in this feature as an actor and a crew member.

With Gao, Yuqi has gained valuable insight on the production side of things, serving as an assistant not only on set but in event planning and directing as well. Most recently, Yuqi served as an assistant director at the Lunar New Year Gala hosted at the New Jersey Grand Resort Hotel. Talents from different parts of the tri-state area accounted for much of the approximately 500 attendees, including some of the most influential Chinese Americans in the business and arts.

Finding community in the arts and theater industry is an important part of Yuqi’s journey in their career. When they’re not at their day job, they’re a theater educator in their DC and NY hubs. It is Yuqi’s ultimate goal to inspire other Asian immigrants and those who understand the transnational experience to share their stories in the western art world. Reflecting on their artistic journey as they spoke to New York Art Life, Yuqi mentions how each of these experiences was both challenging and empowering to them as an Asian actor working in the film and theater industry: “A lot of changes needs to happen, but we are capable of making an impact. We BIPOC and a queer artist must keep pushing against the resistance and make our stories heard.”

Frank Gao’s upcoming film The Weeds is in the pre-production stage and will begin shooting in winter 2023. Ring Yuqi Yang is thrilled to work on this project and also planning to exhibit a few more visual pieces this year.

Max A.Sciarra
New York Art Life Magazine
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