Warmth and Windows — The Neighbors

Huilin Gui in conversation with Sophia Stopper

Published: June 1, 2024

SS: The Neighbors News welcomes Huilin Gui to our digital pages! Hi Huilin, it’s wonderful to speak with you. I was blown away when you wrote with interest in speaking with us. Your work is incredible and you have a very compelling bio. Please tell us about your journey. Where do you call home? This can be multiple places, if you wish. Places you only spent a day, but maybe dipped your feet in water and got a rush of nostalgia. Or it could be where you spent your youth, or possibly where you lay your head now.

HG: Thank you, Sophia, and thank you so much for having me to talk about my works with the Neighbors News! I was born in Beijing, China, and been living there for 18 years before moving to New York to study illustration. Therefore, Beijing is definitely my first home and holds most of my memories. But when I think of the word “Home,” the first thing appeared in my mind are the faces of my parents and siblings, so I guess anywhere family is can be call home.

I have been living in New York for about four years now. I enjoy living in New York, but I can’t quite call it home yet. However, every time my family visits me, New York starts to feel like home. All the furniture in my apartment would be covered with colorful sheets my mom brought. On summer nights, we would go out to buy watermelons and enjoy them together. In winter, we would go to Central Park and watch people ice skating in a daze. These moments made New York feel more like home to me.

SS: Tell us about your art practice. What is your preferred method of making? What materials do you use? Please expand on the whimsy you employ in your work. What does whimsy do for your work that makes it so moving?

HG: The materials I use are mainly watercolor, colored pencils, pastels, oil pastels, crayons, collage, and textured paper. Using mixed media brings a lot of uncertainty to the creative process but also many wonderful surprises, adding interesting touches to the work. I also choose different materials based on the subject to achieve the desired result.

Whimsy is a feeling I get when recollecting my childhood, and I want to express that in my work. When I think of my childhood, many of the details are blurry, and memories from different ages often intertwine. So, in my work, you can see collage, interesting textures created by the interaction of different materials, and somewhat distorted perspectives to express these feelings.

SS: You say in your artist statement that you focus on “overlooked moments of daily life—scenes that, though quiet yet emotionally charged, giving viewers a sense of healing and warmth.“ Explain what kind of healing spaces you generate with your work. What is the role of community within your art practice?

HG: I enjoy illustrating people and the environments they are in, using the small details within these spaces to tell stories. From the slippers drying on the balcony, the writing on the plant pot, the decorative paintings hanging on the wall, to larger elements like a shop, an old television, or a big tree—each element in my work carries a personal emotional connection. These details resonate with me and help create a healing space for me.

I don't know why, but it brings warmth to me whenever I see items that remind me of my childhood. So, I hope that the spaces I construct with the things that move me can give viewers a sense of warmth and a window to their own childhood memories. I love reading picture books, and through this passion, I've met many illustrators in the picture book community who share this love. Sharing picture books with other illustrators has not only expanded my reading but also introduced me to styles that inspire me deeply. Sharing my work and exchanging opinions within the community encourages me to keep creating. When I see illustrators around me publish their own works, it is very inspiring, and it makes me believe that one day, publishing my own picture book is also possible.

SS: How does your past influence your present with your artwork? What is nostalgia’s place within your oeuvre? How do you use images from your personal history in the images of your work?

HG: Most of the themes and content of my work are based on my real experiences. Memories give me inspiration and the motivation to create, and I am very grateful to be able to record them through my artworks. Nostalgia is one of the main themes in my "Home" series, but to me, it is not just about indulging in the past. It is more like a driving force that makes me cherish the present. Everyday moments may become especially precious when recalled later.

Unfortunately, there are very few photos of my daily life as a child. When I look through my childhood albums, most of the photos are from trips, birthdays, family gatherings, or outings—important occasions, while few daily life moments were captured. The only reference is the memories in my mind, which drives me to record them before they fade away.

SS: Please explain how you go “beyond the camera” with your Home series. What are some examples of “invisible narratives” you employ in your work? Why do you feel as though capturing overlooked moments is important?

HG: In the “Home” series, beneath the warm scenes, there are also some of my sad emotions. For instance, in "Street Corner," there is a Kodak photo shop where my family used to develop photos. Over time, fewer people came to develop photos, and it became a place for ID photos and printing. The fruit vendor in “Street Corner” also exists only in my childhood memories. When I was a child, the streets were filled with small vendors, but after the city’s urban renewal, they became hard to find.

In "Square Dancing," the dancing grannies are a vivid memory from my childhood. On weekend mornings, I would wake up to the music of square dancing. Later, perhaps due to noise complaints, it became rare to see them dancing in the community square. All these became the reasons I want to record these overlooked moments. Things that seemed ordinary in childhood quickly become a thing of the past with time. Although we can't relive these memories, their uniqueness in time makes them precious.

SS: Thank you so much for your time, Huilin! Do you have any last thoughts you would like to express? Any causes you're passionate about? Anything that makes you compelled to speak out?

HG: Thank you for this platform to share my works and my story! I believe everyone's experiences and memories are incredibly precious and worth recording. I hope my works can serve as motivation for more people to record and share their own stories.

Huilin is an illustrator and picture book creator from Beijing China, who is currently based in New York. She graduated from the Illustration program at the School of Visual Arts in 2023 and has since been illustrating for animation, magazine and picture book. During her time as a student, she was honored to receive the Jon McDonald Scholarship and the Nancy Lee Rhodes Roberts Scholarship from the Society of Illustrators. Huilin's work has been recognized and selected for inclusion in the Society of Illustrators 66 Annual, the Golden Pinwheel Young Illustrators Competition, Key Color Competitions, the China Illustration Annual Competition, iJungle Illustration Awards, and The 9th China Illustration Bienn. Her illustrations have been showcased at the Shanghai International Children's Book Fair, the Society of Illustrators, Peninsula Gallery, and have been featured by medias like It’s Nice That, Creative Boom, and WeLens.

@huilin.draws

Sophia Stopper is a visual artist, poet, and curator. They received their MFA in Performance from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and their BFA in Studio Art from New York University. Sophia has held positions as Curator at the Bridgeport Art Center (Chicago, US) and Exhibitions Coordinator at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts (Reading, US). Traveling by bookstore, Sophia has lived on four continents and cherishes flying in a hot air balloon above a field of poppies in the Turkish countryside as one of their fondest memories.

@heartbeat.bouquet