The door to the unusual surrealism: interview with Alice Lin Beijing based illustrator, Alice Lin, o

The door to the unusual surrealism: interview with Alice Lin

Beijing based illustrator, Alice Lin, opens doors for us and invites everyone to discover her dark, creative and surrealistic world of art. You can recognize her works by identifying the connection between art, animals, and nature. Alice always manages to build an emotional bridge between viewer and subject. Her colors are like that of illustrations and drawings and are usually calmingly soft. Every single one of her photos has its own story. Alice brings darkness to her works and combines it with fairytales, childhood’s memories and perceptions. So what is Alice Lin like? And how does she come up with such ideas? I asked her about these things in our short chat.  

At what age did you started illustrating and how did it happen?
I started drawing at 5 years old. At that age I was a very naughty little girl but drawing kept me quiet. My mom liked to let me draw so that she could take care of me easier.

How long does it take for you to finish one artwork?
It takes different amounts of time with every piece of work. Sometimes I get a new idea in a moment, sometimes it can take a long time. If I get a good idea, to draw it will take me about half a month.

Illustrations and paintings always seemed to me as a quite diligent thing to do. Do you think patience and thoroughness are the characteristics that artist need to have for creating such art?
Yes, having enough patience and thoroughness in art is necessary and indispensable.

I always ask this question: who or what inspires you?
So many things give me inspiration: fairy tales, music, pictures, movies, dreams, etc. From when I was a kid I liked to draw my imagined world, a place where the things that don’t exist in this world can be.

Your art can be perceived as dark and full of emotions. What kind of emotions and feelings are you trying to reflect?
Life. I have seen the birth of life and death. I am always aware that life is great and fragile. However one day we will all disappear. I always ask a question to myself : Are we real? Do we exist? Are we just illusive?

Animals are a big part of your artworks as well. Why is that?
Animals and plants are my favorite subjects because I love this world and I hope the animals, plants, and humans can exist in harmony in this world forever. No death, no war, without the pain of sickness. But the truth is everything has its end and we must comply with the laws of nature.

If you have to describe yourself in three words, what they would be and why?
SENSITIVE (my emotions are too rich). ELEGANCE (I like poetic expression). GENEROUS (I like to share)

Do you have any other hobbies besides illustrations and drawings?
Yes, besides drawing I was working for 3D art company Maya VFX and MEL (Maya Embed lauguage) scripting. I enjoy this work but it’s very different from drawing. These two work fields let my brain alternate between logic and emotion.