Biography
梅飞雪 Feixue Mei is a designer/illustrator/artist from China and based in Missouri, US. Her creative practice and research have been recognized by Printed Matter's Art Book Fairs, Singapore Art Book Fair, International Design Awards (IDA), Graphis, American Illustration (AI-AP), 3x3 International Illustration Awards, JIA Illustration Award, Indigo Design Awards among others. She has chaired and presented at numerous international conferences such as the CAA Conference and the SECAC Conference. Her research has been published by various international peer-reviewed journals including Transformative Works and Cultures. She and her work have been featured on Creative Boom, Aesthetica, Art & Education, and other press. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, including Fanny Fox Decker Gallery at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Palazzo Bembo in Italy, and Nanyang Technology University Centre for Contemporary Art in Singapore. She holds an MFA in Design with a concentration in Visual Communications from Virginia Commonwealth University, a BFA in Graphic Design from Colorado State University, and a BFA in Visual Communication Design from Central China Normal University. She has taught at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCUarts). Currently, she is Assistant Professor in Graphic Design at Northwest Missouri State University.
Artist Statement
I create conceptual, iconic imagery, and rich narrative details. My work explores publications, illustrations, sequential arts, videos, installations, and performances. Internet culture, animation, comics, Surrealism, and Chinese folk decorative art are among the influences that shaped my intricate style. Cultures and visuals migrate and go across geographical boundaries through the internet and social media. Fluid identity, otherness, mistranslation, displacement, and the struggle to find one’s own community are important parts of my practice. By using adaptation, appropriation, and reproduction, I free symbols and visuals from their original contexts and put them into new narratives. I make the familiar become unfamiliar and open to various interpretations and meanings. With a strong desire to communicate, I believe in Maximalism - the philosophy of “more is more.” Information is overloaded on the internet, and we have many identities online and offline. Those identities and labels interact, struggle and fight with others and finally tell who we are.
If you would like to work with me or ask questions, welcome to send an email.
Awards and Honors
2022
- International Design Award (IDA), Official Selection, Los Angeles, CA
- Graphis Design Annual 2023 (Printed in 2022), Silver Award, New York, NY
- Graphis Poster Annual 2023 (Printed in 2022), Silver Award, New York, NY
- 3x3 International Illustration Awards, Merit, New York, NY
- iJungle Illustration Awards, Winner, Europe
- Collectors Choice 2022, Third Place, Studio Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA
- Communication Arts Illustration Competition, Shortlist, Menlo Park, CA
2021
- International Design Award (IDA), Honorable Mention, Los Angeles, CA
- JIA Illustration Award, Bronze Award, Japan Illustrator’s Association, Japan
- American Illustration, AI41, Chosen Winner, New York, NY
- Indigo Design Awards, Bronze Award, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Creative Quarterly 63, Runner-up, Illustration Professional, New York, NY
- Graphis New Talent Annual, Gold Award, Silver Award, Honorable Mention, New York, NY
2020
- International Design Award (IDA), Honorable Mention, Los Angeles, CA
2019
- Staff Pick Award, Amendment Film Festival, Richmond, VA
Writings and Conferences
2023
- Presentation, “Constructing A Female Space Online: BL Culture in East Asia and Danmei in China”, The Art History of Comics Session, College Art Association (CAA) Conference, New York, NY
2022
- Chair and Presenter, “How Does Social Media and Online Platforms Influence Languages and Interactions: A Study of Adaptation in Bullet Chats on Bilibili”, Teaching Cultural Awareness in Graphic Design and Visual Communication Panel, Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC), Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Baltimore, MD
- Feixue Mei, "Analysis of Bullet Chats in User-Generated Content Advertisement on Bilibili Website: The Success of Madoka Magica’s Mobile Game Promotion," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 46-49, 2022.
2021
- Mei, Feixue. 2021. "Bullet Chats in China: Bilibili, Language, and Interaction." Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 36. https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2021.1939. Peer-Reviewed Journal
- Presentation, “Analysis of Bullet Chats in User-Generated Content Advertisement on Bilibili Website: The Success of Madoka Magica’s Mobile Game”, International Conference on Language, Media and Culture (ICLMC), Nishinippon Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan
- Presentation, “The Power of Cyber-pidgin to Build A Space: Bullet chatting and Language Adaptation on Bilibili in China”, PCA/ACA | Popular Culture Association· American Culture Association, Boston, MA
2020
- “Plastic Existence”, Sonder Midwest, Spring Issue
- Selected (Due to Covid, the conference was cancelled), “Consumer, Producer and Prosumer: A Space of Otherness for Pop Culture Prosumption in China, Eat/ Play/ Tweet conference, Popular Culture Research Center, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand.
2019
Public Art Projects
2022
- Public Art Project, Art in Odd Places (AiOP) 2022: STORY, New York City, NY
Art Book Fair Activities
2022
- Exhibitor, San Francisco Zine Fest, San Francisco, CA
- Exhibitor, Fanzineist Vienna 2022, Vienna, Australia
2021
- Exhibitor, Singapore Art Book Fair, Nanyang Technology University Centre for Contemporary Art, Singapore
- Exhibitor, Printed Matter’s Virtual Art Book Fair, Online
2020
- Exhibitor, LA Art Book Fair, Printed Matter, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles, CA
Selected and Invitational Video Screenings
2023
- Canvas International Art Fair (2023): Mixing Identities, Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello, Venice, Italy
2022
- PASA Festival (BitEden Space, Seoul/ INTERPARK BlueSquare, Seoul/ Lotte Center, Hanoi/ LG Discovery Lab, Seoul/ Incheon Airport, Incheon), South Korea
- VIDEO ART INTERNATIONAL STREAMING FESTIVAL: #Post RE:SET@New Future, Goes: art, Vienna, Australia
- ALC Video Art Festival, MACA Museum of Contemporary Art Alicante and Pozos de Garrigós, Alicante, Spain
- Venice Experimental Video and Performing Art Festival, Palazzo Bembo, Venice, Italy
2021
- Burnt Video Art and Experimental Film Festival, Montreal, Canada
- Invitational, Acid Rain Project, Attic 506, Chapel Hill, NC
- The Museum of Wild and Newfangled Art Biennial, New York, NY
- 19 Online Performance Art Festival, New York, NY
2020
- World Studio, The School of Industrial and Graphic Design, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
- Video Open Call at the Anderson, The Anderson, Richmond, VA
2019
- Video Snack 7, Grace Street Theatre, Richmond, VA
- School of Visual Arts Summer Documentary Intensive Show, SVA Theatre, New York, NY
- CASPFEST: ART+FILM+MUSIC - National Juried Exhibition, Lubbock, TX
Selected and Invitational Exhibitions
2023
- Three Artists Exhibition, Identity: Reflections and Shadows, Tim Murphy Art Gallery, Merriam, KS (Upcoming)
- Group Exhibition, Collectors Choice 2023, Studio Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA
- Group Exhibition, Lahore Digital Arts Festival 2023: Metaverse Bodies, Pakistan
2022
- Invitational Group Exhibition, NWMSU Faculty Exhibition, Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, Saint Joseph, MO
- Group Exhibition, "In Touch 2022", Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA Museum), Gimpo, South Korea
- Group Exhibition, SECAC 2022 Members’ Juried Exhibition, Fanny Fox Decker Gallery Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Baltimore, MD
- Invitational Four Artists Exhibition, The Future and Beyond, The Guild Gallery, Vault Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
- Group Exhibition, Something Left to Say, Wick Monet Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
- Group Exhibition, “I Am…” Asian American Visual & Performing Arts Residency presented by The National Association of Asian American Professionals - Kansas City, The ArtsKC gallery, Kansas City, MO
- Group Exhibition, Wild Ideas & Radical Actions, The Museum of Wild and Newfangled Art, New York, NY
- Group Exhibition, Dialogue Reconstructed 2022, The Hutchinson Art Center, St. Hutchinson, KS
- Group Exhibition, painters TUBES gallery Exhibition 12, Sweden
2021
- Group Exhibition, Faculty Show (Fall 2021), Olive Deluce Art Gallery, Maryville, MO
- Group Exhibition, Work Sold, Out of Order Virtual Auction & Exhibition, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
- Group Exhibition, While We Wait, Vacant Museum, Online
- Group Exhibition, Nostalgia Exhibition, The Holy Art, London, UK
- Group Exhibition, Missouri Art Now: A Bicentennial Celebration (The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau/ The State Historical Society of Missouri in Columbia/ Post Art Library and Spiva Center for the Arts in Joplin/ Hannibal Arts Council in Hannibal/ The Albrecht-Kemper Museum in Saint Joseph)
- Group Exhibition, Faculty Show (Spring 2021), Olive Deluce Art Gallery, Maryville, MO
2020
- Exhibitor, COW 2020 Illustration Biennale Selected List, COW International Design Festival, Dnipro City Central Library, Dnipro, Ukraine
2019
- Group Exhibition, Simple Livin’, Pump House, Richmond, VA
- Group Exhibition, In Pursuit: A Virginia College & University Student Art Exhibition, D’Art Center Norfolk, VA
- Group Exhibition, Collectors Choice 2019, Studio Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA
- Group Exhibition, Missed Connections, FAB Gallery, Richmond, VA
- Group Exhibition, VCU MFA Candidacy Exhibition, Batter 5, Cherry Gallery, Richmond, VA
- Group Exhibition, We: Chat, The Anderson, Richmond, VA
2018
- Group Exhibition, Playing in the Dark, The Anderson, VCU, Richmond, VA
2017
- Group Exhibition, Scholarship Competition, Hatton Gallery, Fort Collins, CO
- Solo Exhibition, What is the Truth?, Department of Art and Art History, Fort Collins, CO
Service to Community
2022
- Juror, The Art of Healing Galleries, Mosaic Hospital Exhibition, Mosaic Medical Center-Maryville, MO
- Juror, Apexart Gallery Exhibition Proposal, New York, NY
- Mentor, Women Who Create Mentorship Program, New York, NY
- Peer Reviewer, SURFACE Conference, American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Design Educators Community
- Peer Reviewer, Transformative Works and Cultures, Organization for Transformative Works
- Mentor, AIGA NY Mentorship Program, New York, NY
- Judge, CYA Writers and Illustrators Conference Competition, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
2021-Present
- Juror, Regional Congressional Art Contest, Kansas City, MO
2020
- Peer Reviewer, Transformative Works and Cultures, Organization for Transformative Works
- Reviewer, The One Club’s Online Portfolio Reviews, The One Club for Creativity, New York, NY