Yongyi Zhu
Yongyi Zhu
Yongyi Zhu is a graphic designer skilled in both graphic and performance design, with a focus on contemporary critical design and gender studies. She brings a thoughtful, innovative approach to material and texture exploration in her models and installations.
Yongyi combines traditional graphic design with non-traditional visual communication, using her work to engage with contemporary issues. Her abstract, impactful visuals encourage audiences to reflect on societal topics.
In performance design, particularly in set and lighting, Yongyi creates immersive environments that enhance storytelling. Her spaces offer depth and engagement, using light, texture, and materials to create transformative experiences.
Shakespeare's Macbeth delves into the destructive power of unchecked ambition against a backdrop of ominous foreboding and an atmosphere of moral decay. I've adapted this short, punchy, fast-paced work to unfold in the midst of a modern-day Mafia power struggle, and my design reflects this context.
The set combines minimalist and geometric forms with carefully selected materials to capture the inherent conflict between desire and sanity, reflecting the uncertainty of the protagonist and the dangers underlying his choices.
The lighting design uses contrasting black and white and bold use of red to enhance the dramatic effect, creating a strong visual effect that highlights the character's inner turmoil, loneliness, fear and irrationality. This combination of set and lighting design brings Macbeth's dark and rapid fall to life, immersing the audience in a world where ambition is overshadowed by consequence.