Banyi Huang

BIO

Born in Beijing, Banyi Huang 黄半衣 (they/them) is an artist, writer, and designer based in Brooklyn, New York. Their work has been shown at The Soto Velez Clemente Center (New York), Special Special (New York), Artist’s Space (New York), and the Flat Earth Film Festival (Seydisfjordur, Iceland). Banyi has also contributed writings to the Brooklyn Rail, Hyperallergic, Frieze, Spike Art, ArtAsiaPacific, Artforum China, Performa Magazine, Frieze Magazine, and has realized curatorial projects at the Musée des Arts Asiatiques (Nice, France), PRACTICE Yonkers (New York), Assembly Room (New York), Center for Performance Research (New York), among others. They also run a line of dildo-inspired, 3D printed body accessories called AmorousPolymers.

Banyi received their B.A. from Williams College, and M.A. in Art History from Columbia University.

Banyi is currently an artist in residence at BRIClab.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My work combines digital worldbuilding, writing, performance, and installation to stage queer reenactments of Chinese mythologies, folklore and spiritual narratives, reimagining deities and demons, performative rituals, and ceremonial devices. With a background in art history and writing, I blend socio-historical research, technology, and my Asian diasporic history into an interdisciplinary studio practice.

In my videos and new media works, I create digital-ambient environments to self-soothe, inhabit altered states, and process trauma. Through a process of archival research, prototyping, and 3D printing, I create talismanic ritual devices to center and activate the body. Informed by my research into queerness in Chinese mythology, Daoist rituals, and shamanism, these works form a temple-like space of devotion and contemplation. Building on philosopher Yuk Hui’s term ‘Cosmotechnics’, my work explores what I call ‘Eros-technics’: the unification of the erotic and ethics through technological activities. What if technology can be used to soothe and center the body, and access alternative modes of connectivity?

Interview with Banyi Huang

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you became interested in becoming an artist?

Growing up in Beijing, China, I’ve always loved to draw and was trained in the Soviet style realism popular in the Chinese art academy system. When I moved to the US, I chose to broaden my scope and got my undergraduate and graduate degree in art history. After moving to New York, I sought out internships and work experiences in the arts. All this time, I suppressed my need to create and internalized a lot of misconceptions about art that priorized intellectualizing and gatekeeping. I felt suffocated and fell into a deep depressive period. It was not until the pandemic, where I had no choice but to confront my inner desires, that I finally decided to start letting go of my emotional baggage and pursue a career as an artist.

Can you tell us about some of your most memorable early influences?

Early influences were in the Western canon, like Egon Schiele; Renaissance old masters, and then later Maya Deren.

Where are you currently based and what brought you there? Are there any aspects of this specific location or community that have inspired your work?

I am currently based in Sunset Park. I moved here in the spring of 2021 to start afresh. The proximity to immigrant neighborhoods–the bustling Latin side of Fifth Avenue and Chinese businesses on Eighth Avenue–has felt so validating. Sandwiched in between is Sunset Park itself, an elevated public park with breathtaking views. Even in my darkest moments, this treasure mound stands poised like a giant trustworthy turtle, where Chinese aunties practice square dancing and lovers embrace.

I started drawing inspirations from visiting the various Buddhist and Daoist temples around here, observing the forms and functions of spiritual objects as well as the traditions of worship. I also pay attention to the design and meaning behind the trinkets that people take home to forge spiritual connections in domestic space. These imagery, forms, symbolic meaning, and their connections to the body have made their way into my new media works and sculptures. Eighth Avenue has activated my diasporic identity in so many ways.

What is your studio space like? What makes your space unique to you?

For me, my studio space resides both on my desktop, and the physical studio that I have access to through my current residency at BRIClab. On my computer, I switch between creating objects and landscapes in 3D modeling programs, 3D printing software, and doing browser-based research and writing. In my physical studio, I have my 3D printers set up, a workbench to do sketching, prototyping, and soldering electronic parts, and walls to physically map out ideas and image references.

What is a typical day like? If you don't have a typical day, what is an ideal day?

A typical day looks like spending half a day on my computer, and going to my studio in the later half of the day. If I don’t actively try to manage my ADHD, I might open 20 browser tabs, and start a million threads in my head. As someone who is interested in many processes, whether technological, material, and narrative, the management of my racing thoughts and emotional frustrations is just as important as the actual work. Then later in my studio, I would continue to build on existing sculptures, continue to brainstorm, and finish the day by going to a performance somewhere.

What gets you in a creative groove or flow? Is there anything that interrupts your creative energy?

For me to get into a flow state, I need the combination of an impending deadline, and getting unnecessary and/or distracting things out of the way. Negative emotions like self-doubt, insecurities, and frustrations disrupt my creative energy the most. The most devastating feeling is when creative endeavors are driven by feelings of emptiness and lack in the self. This is something I’m actively addressing now in my practice.

How do you maintain momentum in your practice?

Momentum is often framed to serve productivity, efficiency, and short-term achievements. However, if we see my art practice as a life-long thing, then maintaining momentum in work becomes intertwined with life itself. I need rest, taking care of myself, social stimulation, giving and receiving support from my community, taking the time to learn new skills and ways of working, collaboration…etc. in order to maintain momentum, or rather, keep going.

What medium/media are you working in right now? What draws you to this particular material or method?

I currently work with 3D simulation and digital fabrication, which involves both virtual space and physical installation. In virtual 3D space, I use translation, orientation, and scaling to create and transform forms. I find this medium particularly compelling because it reflects my own experiences, including the movement of the immigrant body, the assimilation of power and care, and the scalability of identity. Through digital fabrication methods like 3D printing, I'm able to bring my virtual forms into physical existence, which allows for new opportunities for interaction with the body. Overall, I see these processes as forms of worldbuilding, where disparate elements can come together in expansive ways.

Can you walk us through your overall process in making your current work? Does drawing play a role in your process?

My process starts with research into subjects like Chinese deities and Daoist ritual objects. I sketch out rough ideas to visualize form and color, then move on to 3D modeling and animation using software like Maya and Blender. This involves learning on the spot and quite a bit of troubleshooting. If I want to bring objects into installation form, I clean up the files and 3D print them. Assembly involves experimentation, problem-solving, and repetition. Drawing plays a big role in the initial phase.

What is exciting about your process currently?

What's exciting about my process currently is the opportunity to both deepen existing processes and explore new ones. On the one hand, I'm refining my animations and situating them within a larger narrative that I'm developing. I'm also experimenting with texturing 3D printed parts, painting them, and incorporating found objects and other materials. On the other hand, I'm excited to explore new processes like lenticular prints and printing text on fabric. All of these processes are part of my overarching goal of creating portals and reconfiguring our relationship to the body through ritual and healing.

Can you talk about some of the ongoing interests, imagery, and concepts that have informed your process and body of work over time? How do you anticipate your work progressing in the future?

I've been continuously fascinated by the intersection between the body, spirituality, and technology. Specifically, I've drawn inspiration from folk religion in China, where images of deities and demons in temples, ritual objects, and somatic devices that work directly on the body are prevalent.

Building on the work of philosopher Yuk Hui and his concept of Cosmotechnics, which aims to craft space for a non-Western understanding of technology, I've developed my own term of Eros-technics, which explores the unification of the erotic and ethics through technical or technological activities. In my work, I'm interested in exploring how technology can be used to center the body and its desires, to soothe, and to access alternative modes of connectivity, instead of solely focusing on acceleration or the future in order to escape the present.

Looking forward, I anticipate that my work will become more community-based and collaborative. By working with others, I hope to reach more people, tap into the powers of the collective.

Do you pursue any collaborations, projects, or careers in addition to your studio practice? If so, can you tell us more about those projects, and are there connections between your studio practice and these endeavors?

Currently, I run an Etsy shop called AmorousPolymers–it’s fallen a bit behind as it’s quite challenging to navigate multiple threads of production while living in New York. I started off making dildo earrings and experimenting with body accessories–this is how I got into 3D modeling and printing. I would love to get back into designing some new pieces and work with folks in my community to stage photoshoots.

Have you had any epiphanies recently that have changed the course of your work or caused you to shift directions?

If there have been epiphanies, it’s too recent for me to tell the changes they had on my work. I just know that I’m much more interested now in grounding myself. I no longer want to make work that stems from lack, in other words, a need to prove myself and justify my existence.

Nor am I interested in holding onto a process and allowing it to define my artistic and personal identity. Rigid ego boundaries often result in stagnancy and insecurity.

Can you share some of your recent influences? Are there specific works—from visual art, literature, film, or music—that are important to you?

Visual and/or multidisciplinary artists include Shu Lea Cheang, whose work on infectiousness, gender, and connectivity has been hugely influential, particularly her approach to restaging queer reenactments of dominant narratives. I am also learning a lot from my now mentor Morehshin Allahyari on refiguring myth and technology. I am also inspired by Pete Jiadong Qiang and his refreshing framework around online fandom, affection, and new media. A group that I recently discovered is otay:onii, the lead singer’s vocal range and their ambient tracks haunts me in the best way.

Who are some contemporary artists you’re excited about? What are the best exhibitions you’ve seen in recent memory and why do they stand out?

The best show that I remember from last year is Mire Lee’s solo show at Tina Kim Gallery. The front gallery featured more neatly presented molds and a video of the artist’s mother. In the back room is a suspended biomorphic being, its flesh-toned tentacles made of silicone and other unidentifiable materials, with an industrial pump system circulating viscous discharge. It stands out because it appeals directly to the body through scale, movement, and visceral exchange.

Do you have any tips or advice that someone has shared with you that you have found particularly helpful?

Ever since I started reading The Artist’s Way, and following the assignment of Morning Pages, which is simply dumping out my thoughts in the mornings, my life has not been the same. This kind of free, associative, and personal writing has helped so much with clearing out distracting thoughts, documenting ideas that I can return to, and regulating negative emotions. All in all, highly recommended for anyone wanting to reconnect with their creative inner child.

What are you working on in the studio right now? What’s coming up next for you?

Currently, I am working on a project named .obj Worship, consisting of a short film and installation. It started with my research into Mazu, a sea deity from Fujian province in Southern China. By creating and animating a digital avatar based on my likeness and inserting them into various digital-ambient environments, I reimagine Mazu as a contemporary queer deity, leaning into the healing powers of water and the complexity of coastal identities. The film uses the framework of iterative calling to situate Mazu as an emotional remothering loop–the act of inviting her is a step towards the process of remothering.

I am prototyping a set of ritual devices that have thematic connections to the film. Borrowing from the form and function of Dou Deng, a Daoist oil lamp, I am creating a vessel that contains various ritual objects (both 3D printed and ready-made), including a custom mirror, massage paddle, handheld fan, and a clit forest.

To find out more about Banyi Huang check out their Instagram and website.