Yuyao Ma
I am an illustration student interested in communication, interpretation and the ways people understand one another. My work often begins with everyday situations and small moments of conversation, which I develop through drawing, storytelling and visual research. I am especially interested in how meaning can shift when information is selected, repeated or reinterpreted.
In my recent work, I have been exploring sequential illustration, character design and theatrical structures as ways to make these changes visible. I enjoy combining narrative with stage-inspired visual language and thinking about how illustration can show the process through which a person, idea or situation is understood.
From Interpretation to Misunderstanding
From Interpretation to Misunderstanding explores how the same statement can gradually be understood in different ways. The project began with a family conversation about my plans after graduation, in which different people focused on different parts of what I said.
Through sequential illustration, I developed this situation into a theatrical narrative. Narration, typing, signs, costume changes and visible stage actions show how information is selected, repeated and reinterpreted over time. Research into theatre and Russian Constructivist stage design also influenced the visual language of the characters and stage.
The project explores how illustration can make the process of interpretation visible, and how a partial but still accurate detail can gradually become strong enough to shape the way a person or situation is understood.
A single statement enters a staged process of interpretation. As different parts of the sentence are selected and emphasised, the meaning begins to shift beyond what the speaker originally intended.
The main character believes she is only passing by, but the ticket seller tells her that the show has already begun. From the moment she speaks about herself, her words are already being watched, interpreted and drawn into the performance.
Before the statement is fully heard, it has already entered a staged structure. The image suggests that interpretation does not begin from a neutral position: what is said is guided, framed and organised by the structures already in place.
As the original statement passes through different layers of interpretation, only selected parts are kept in view. The image suggests how a partial reading can become more dominant than the whole, gradually narrowing the way a person or situation is understood.
The image suggests the moment when a statement leaves the speaker and begins to be handled by others. What is said is no longer held by one person alone, but is received, organised and prepared for further interpretation.
The ticket seller stands at the entrance to the theatre and introduces the main character to the performance. She acts as the narrator, marking the moment when an ordinary conversation begins to enter a process of observation and interpretation.
A single sentence becomes the starting point for an entire stage of interpretation. As it moves through different structures, viewpoints and actions, the original statement is gradually expanded, reorganised and turned into something larger than what was first said.
The stage is already prepared before the main character fully enters it. Signs, lights and structures direct her towards a space where her words will be watched and interpreted, suggesting that the way she is understood is already being framed around her.