About Artist
Yucheng Lian (b. 2003) is a Chinese visual artist and filmmaker currently pursuing his MFA in Film & Television Production at the University of Southern California. He received his BA in Communication Arts from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, with additional certifications in Digital Film Production and Studio Art – Photography.
His time in the American Midwest has left a lasting impression on his work. In this vast and frigid landscape—where cornfields stretch endlessly and loneliness brews quietly in dive bars—he encountered both sincere human connection and a deep, unshakable sense of unbelonging. As a foreigner, he often dreams of the tropics—visions of warmth and dislocation from the opposite side of the Pacific.
Working across photography and moving image, Lian explores the emotional residue of migration, memory, and estrangement. In 2023–2024, he produced two photographic series, Airplane Drill and Eczema, and completed Chinese Satellite, a 25-minute narrative short exploring identity, suspicion, and spectacle in rural Wisconsin.
His photographic process centers on the Ricoh GR series, combining the immediacy of direct-flash street photography with the psychological depth of staged wide-angle tableaux. The tension between these two approaches—ephemeral versus constructed—acts as a portal between the real and the unreal. His visual language draws inspiration from artists such as Rinko Kawauchi and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, emphasizing intimacy, spatial dissonance, and the slow unfolding of human relationships.
Lian’s work has been exhibited in the Untitled group show in 2023, and his film Azhi was officially selected by the Wisconsin Film Festival in 2024.
Education
2024 University of Wisconsin - Madison, Bachelor of Science, Communication Arts
2027 Univeristy of Southern California, Master of Fine Arts, Cinematography and Film Production
Group Exhibitions
2023 “Untitled”, Art Lofts Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin
Film Fest
2024 Honorable Mention, Wisconsin Film Festival
2023 Second Place, UW-Madison Student Film Festival
2022 Best Experimental Film, Crown Point Internation Film Festival
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