Congratulations on coming 2nd in Zealous Amplify: Mental Health and Wellbeing! What is currently on your mind?
Thank you so much for the award! I am honoured to receive it. As mental health and well-being is the core topic in my practice, it means a lot to me. I am working on a project about connection and disconnections in our society – how they make us isolated and lonely living in this society.
Your winning entry, ‘The Fog’, is based on Mark Fisher’s idea about widespread anxiety and depression in our society caused by capitalism. Mark Fisher states that “many forms of depression are best understood and best combatted through frames that are impersonal and political rather than individual and psychological”. Is there no alternative to capitalism?
That is something I’ve been questioning myself. As a person living in this world of capitalism, it seems almost impossible to think about a better future, which makes many people in my generation feel down. However, I don’t believe it is something black and white. If more and more people start worrying about the widespread anxiety and depression, we would be able to find a better solution together. I still know that there would never be a 100% correct answer though.
You also took influence from Virginia Woolfe, who described her depression as a ‘nebulous fog’. This is what your animation attempts to catch. Where does the fog come from and what are the side effects in everyday life?
My dissertation at the RCA also started with these questions:
Where does this fog come from?
What is it formed of?
Is there a way out?
And then it ended with:
I tried to catch the fog and find the way out of it. However, it had a lot more layers than I expected so that I could not reach the end of it. I still do not have a clear picture of my fog, I only could illustrate it with metaphors and artworks, just like others did. I still don’t have clear answers for my fog, and for others, the fog would be completely different from mine. It could be anything and appear to anyone.
After studying illustration, you fell in love with moving images and are now adapting it to share your stories. What does your animation process look like?
I start with a single image, which could be either the start, middle, or end of the story, and then I build up the whole story from there. After that, I develop the whole project by making a rough storyboard. I tend to start making stuff first and see how it goes. Therefore, sometimes I end up with many unexpected or unused scenes with multiple colour palettes.
Is there any way of riding ourselves of the fog?
I hope so, but sadly I don’t think I have the key with me at the moment. That is something I would like to search for in my future work. However, I do believe that if more people could see the invisible fog, we might find a way to get ourselves out of it together. I am trying to make another step, which I hope everybody who got lost in this fog would be able to do. There should be a way out if we don’t stop walking.
What does self-care look like to you?
It is the most important thing in my life – but it is quite difficult to proceed it, especially during wintertime. It has been the most crucial thing in my life, but it is still quite difficult.
As a person who has been walking in the fog for a long time, I would say everything looks and feels so different from the world outside of it. It gets a lot harder to take care of but easier to be harsh on myself since I got blinded by the fog, and it alters my perception of myself. But I am trying to be kind to myself, just like I would do to others.
You can find Ziyoo’s work on their website and Instagram
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