Our youngest guest is in the house today!
I started this show in Hong Kong, and I run this show in Hong Kong. I’m originally from Hong Kong, talking to guests from every corner of the world. Yet, so far, I haven’t interviewed any guest from right here in Hong Kong.
Today, that changes.
I’m excited to bring a local guest to the studio—May Yeung, founder of the charity Art of My Family, a teaching artist, a cancer survivor, a mother to a 11-month-old cute boy. May has experienced many life changes over the years, and she’s determined to use the power of art, in her own way, to change lives and create an environmentally sustainable, mentally healthy, and socially inclusive society here in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is not just about business, finance, and money. May has chosen a different path to do well and do good.
And as a side note: we’ve got our youngest guest ever—May’s 11-month-old son—joining us on the show, so don’t go away!
Episode Breakdown:
3:17—From Wall Scribbles to Ceramics: A Childhood Steeped in Art
“From the time I was around two years old, I would draw on walls before I could even write my name. By five, my father and I were creating ceramics together. At age 12, my fascination with dadaism and pop art gave me the conviction to become an artist.”
"I met Professor Jeff Oppenheimer who gave a lecture on integrating art into daily life, and daily life into art, and the contents of this lecture really helped to form the framework and direction of my art to this day."
6:00—Where Art Meets Music: How Music Has Influenced Her Art Creation
8:41—From Crunching Numbers to Crafting Impact: How Finance Led May to Art and Social Change
11:20—Faith Over Fear: How Battling Cancer Transformed a Perfectionist into a Celebrator of Life’s Small Wins
"I think the cancer experience really let me feel a greater sense of conviction to serve the underprivileged"
16:25—Art for Archer: How Motherhood and Heritage Shape Her Creations
18:09—Dim Sum and Chinese Checkers: Weaving Hong Kong’s Culture into Every Piece of Art
21:34—Memorable Art Pieces “What If” and “Blossom Love”: Sculpting Bridges Between Cultures and Endless Possibilities
23:19—From Corporate CSR to Creative Compassion: The Birth of Art of My Family
30:00—May’s Life Mission to Inspire the Next Generation: The Three C’s of Art Education and the Role of a Teaching Artist
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Host: Vince Chan | Guest: May Yeung
Chief Change Officer: Make Change Ambitiously.
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Every team, every topic, everywhere, this is Belize. Hi, everyone. Welcome to our show, Chief Change Officer. I'm Vis Chen, your ambitious human host. Our show is a modernist community for change progressives in organizational and human transformation. I started this show in Hong Kong and I run this show in Hong Kong. I'm originally from Hong Kong talking to guests from every corner of the world possible. Yet, so far, I haven't interviewed any guests from right here in Hong Kong. Today, that changes. I'm excited to bring a local guest to the studio. Mei Yuan, founder of the charity Art of My Family, a teaching artist, a cancer survivor, a mother to a really cute boy, and a wife of an other Vince, who happens to be a good friend of mine. Mei has experienced many life changes over the years. She's determined to use the power of art in her own way to change lives and create an environmentally sustainable, mentally healthy and socially inclusive society here in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is not just about business, finance and money. Mei has chosen a different path to do well and to do good. And as a side note, with God, our youngest guest ever, Mei's 11 month old son joining us on the show. So don't go away. Hi, everyone. My name is Mei. I'm a teaching artist, and while I'm a doctor, I'm also the founder of Art of My Family, a charity dedicated to organize committee art events with sustainability elements. Mei is a teaching artist. What is teaching artist, you may wonder, and how does she develop her artistic journey? Before we do a deep dive, let us start with Mei's history. Mei, give us an overview of your history, your education, your life experiences, just to give us some perspective, then we will explore different elements of your journey in the later part of a show. Sure, growing up, I've always really enjoyed art more than anything else, and much some kids prefer playing sports art really came naturally to me. So from the time I was around 2 years old, I would draw on walls before I could even write my name. And art was one of the ways my parents and I bonded. So when I was three, my mother taught me how to sew to origami. And by five years old, my father and I were created ceramics together. At 8'12, my positive experiences with art from my childhood really gave me the conviction that became an artist, during which I had a fascination with that as a model of art. And I eventually went to the University College of Study Arts. This is where I met up Professor Jeff Opachheimer, who gave a lecture on integrating art into daily life and daily life into art. And the contents of this lecture really helped form the framework and direction of my art to this day. And also were one of the major factors in my decision to become a sculpture specializing in art and large installation for puppet spaces. You went to the University of Chicago to study visual art along with an other interest of yours, political science. I happened to know a lot of people from Hong Kong and China, including myself who attacked the University of Chicago to study economics, business, mathematics or physics. Yet, even at your young age, you purposely chose art as your major. Tell us more about the why. Why at that age you decided to pursue art as your major, why you wanted to get serious about this field of study rather than just keeping it as a hobby or as an interest. For me, art is a way of self-expression, as well as a way of communication with others. And I think the power of art is that even for words that cannot be expressed, it can be experienced through art. And I think, as I mentioned earlier, Professor Jeff Opachheimer, especially as well as Professor Laura Lechinsky, both of them play a very important role in my artistic career. They really encouraged me to jump outside of the box and incorporate some of the daily life materials into artwork. And that's also my philosophy as an artist. You've mentioned to me before that music has had a significant influence on your journey as an artist. Can you share more about how music plays a role in your art world? Yeah, sure. Besides art, I also received a musical education from a very young age receiving to the age from Hong Kong on a conduct to Mr. Jimmy Chen and the late Mr. Daisichung, who actually taught a lot of the famous singers in Hong Kong, including Andy Lau and all those of the singers. And I was also taught piano by Chinese pianist Mao Sikwon, and very luckily became the distinguished winner of the Swader whole-call youth piano competition. So I actually used a lot of my dramatic experiences to create a culture and direct stance in musical performances that amplifies so much of each other. And when I first returned to Hong Kong in 2015, I served as the visual arts director and showcased my sculpture "Kobun", using textiles at the residence of the Netherlands Council General to Hong Kong Macau, the porch-permental performance. And even later until in 2018 for the French May Art Festival, I directed the "Empneinnek" "Mekduta" interpretive dance and music performance, where I fused trainees and French musical instruments and facilitated collaboration between the artists. And so I'm very excited about the upcoming show, which is the Discovery Arts Parade record. I will present my artwork called "Music Kokes on Press". It is actually an artwork series of sculptive basses in the form of a musical rest in the garden of sproting daisies, and I will actually hand-paint it them. And the artwork is really aimed to calm the mind and encouraging the viewers to actually make Jordan's selves from the bustling city lives, to relax, to recharge, and to revive. And the reason why I actually chose musical rest is because I believe that the absence of sound in a musical score actually provides dynamics, buttes tension, and actually maintain the rhythm, even change the tempo of the key. And I really hope that as music is everywhere, and I really want that through art and music with your book, Universal Language, to actually have to cross beyond boundaries and cultures. In your career so far, you've explored various areas of art, like music, sculpture, and painting. But you've also spent a good amount of time in the corporate world, including investment banking, and working for a tech company in the CSR or ESG space. What were your thoughts back then about gaining this so-called standard commercial and business experience while still pursuing your artistic ambitions? My transition from finance to startup and into art was a kind of gradualization of my calling in life, and what I really wanted to do through my career. And earlier you mentioned I worked in finance. I was an analyst at Goldman in the US, and back then I had opportunity to work on the CSR initiative, and it experienced really impact me. Specifically, the community team works which provided really efforts for victims of hurricane serenity. And so I actually had that time to help organizing up from the art events and become a really fond family for me, and inspired me to shift a career towards focusing and making a positive social impact. Coming back to Hong Kong, I then joined the founding team of the Liberal Whole Health Office at the Art Research and Responsibility Lead, and that's where I launched a food recovery program and providing free meals for the community, and so seeing the potential for corporations to support their communities really solidified my desire to use my ability to benefit those in need, and all these experience and also with personal health insurance that's actually led me back to my original passion for art as a pop-up sculpture, and also the founder of the charity Art of my Family. I now really dedicate my career to bring creative opportunities to underprivileged youth in Hong Kong. Sticking the values of ART art, which is affirmation resilience and friendliness, so today I look back at my career transitions and I realized that the nature of my garage rolls, we had finance, we had startup, it was really my calling to do social work, and the spirit of perseverance I gradually developed throughout these appearance, it's really what shaped me who I am today. Speaking of perseverance, I can help but ask about a significant aspect of your personal life. You shared other media interviews that you were diagnosed with cancer at a young age and battled the illness for a considerable time. Could you share how this experience transformed or impacted you? Did it make you a more empathetic or artistic person, or perhaps it had a different fact? How does this health and personal experience shape your journey? I think a listeners would really appreciate hearing about the life lessons you've learned from this challenging time. Sure, so before my cancer, I was wrapped in my own cocoon and growing up, I was a randomly relentlessly perfectionist, so I set very high sense for myself. I was very critical of myself, of everything from work to daily life, and back then I micromanaged all the operations of my design company, art in love and also my charity, art in my family. I think my cancer, my fight with cancer really gave me a new perspective on life. I transformed into someone who really placed emphasis on faith, and when I say space, I would say ads really stands for having faith in myself. Instead of challenging what I do all the time, actually embrace it and have confidence in myself, and a) it's feeling alive and celebrating small things in life. It's not easy to be a sculpture. A lot of times things are being affected by the temperature, things affected by the humidity, but celebrate the small things in life, and it will become a happier, happier artist. I created an impact on society by making a difference one step at a time. That's also my mission no matter as a sculptor or as a committee artist, and T is really touching lives and hearts by helping people around me. So really happy to have set up art of my family to achieve that, and H taking better care of my mental and physical health, as well as actually helping the mental wellness of people around me as well. So I think the cancer experience really gave me, let me feel a greater sense of conviction to serve the underprivileged, whether through events such as French May, the more the pandemic drops to Mother Nature and Next Generation exhibition. A near-death experience gives you a new perspective for life. Well, that experience is full of suffering, and we don't try to glorify it. It can also lead to personal growth. You came out of it as a better person, someone who embraces life more fully and finds great to happiness. And speaking of life, I know that in recent years, you started a new chapter. You got married to another Vence, who is also a friend of mine from the University of Chicago. And you have a son, a new life that you are nurturing. How is modelhood treating you so far? How has this experience, along with other major life events, impacted your perspective as an artist, and in helping your communities? Just give me one moment, Archer is coming over soon. I would like to carry him as I'm answering this question, so please tell me. Are you sleepy? Okay. Did you interrupt his afternoon baby's sleep, beauty's sleep? Actually, he was a wit before the call, but then he fell asleep like this. I'm trying to grab a photo of the three of us. Let's see. Okay. Okay. Cool. Who this person is, because you look at this eyebrows, like, checking me out. What is this? What are you doing? So, that's Archer Shandara. He just smiled. So, back to our original question, about a new chapter in your life, about a new life that you are nurturing, about modelhood. Let's check out motherhood. My journey actually really inspired a new practice for my art gradients, from my pregnancy to the birth of my son Archer. That's when I realized that my work should be created with the goal of enriching an extra ration, regardless. It's mainly worked or regardless art pieces, and I think the art and joy of creating is an expression of inter-generation care. So, for Archer and also for the other youths who needed the most in my community. So, one of the pieces actually vents you saw in person, a League of Fates, was an art piece I created for a mother nature and a generation exhibition. With me trying to express the excitement and joy of watching life roll into something wonderful from some favorite spot. The bamboo steamer used in League of Fates, which is the largest handmade bamboo steamer ever made in Hong Kong, is a piece of cultural heritage that represents all the things I really enjoyed growing up that I wish to pass them to their generation. Actually, on a side note, why I decided to name him Shigao is because I really hope that he could aspire to be like the artist Park Shigao, who is basically a very innovative person, and who also went through a lot of challenges in life, but she's still going to actually become one of the most celebrated artists in the United States. What were some of the things you enjoyed growing up in Hong Kong? Can you share more about activities or experiences that were particularly meaningful to you during that time? Yeah, sure. One of the motifs that I have in my artwork is Deathly Hong Kong's culture, and when we talk about Hong Kong's culture, it's not only being a selling boat and all those things, but it's really little things, little precious moments in diamond life, so it can be a dumb sum, it can be Chinese checkers and all those things, and that's why I actually incorporated dim sum steamer and French made accessible savanna exhibition back in 2017, as well as mother nature and her generations, but then I think dim sum, this intangible cultural heritage is something that is really worth Hong Kong people and actually people from all over the world to treasure, and Chinese checkers and even ping-pong balls are things that I really love playing at the little girl, and so that's something that it's really fun to actually see them shy in my artwork. I remember that I actually took a photo with that piece and Vince, your husband, explained the significance of that dim sum container to me. Since Vince's family is in the restaurant business, he shared how dim sum plays a major role in Hong Kong's dining culture and overall culture. That really big dim sum container, especially made, as far as I know, was something you turn into a piece of art. Yes, but it has always been great working with Tap Chan some day, they are the first generation of bamboo artisans in Hong Kong, and it's really fascinating to see them that they still hang craft bamboo steamers, which is not easy. Actually, a lot of the steamers these days are actually made with a mix of bamboo and metal. What they do for us working together with us with an exhibition makes it even more precious, and I'd always love to incorporate some fun food elements into my work. I think not only experience my other half, but also just experience by me growing up, it's always trying to treasure food. Like even, for example, a few years ago, for art of my family's program, we had two-year program related to marine conservation. So in 2020, we actually recycled over a few hundreds of seashells and turned it into artwork, and the children actually interviewed a fisherman, the generation of fishermen and agridine to create artwork related to Chinese a bone skirt culture, as well as actually exhibiting their work and type home. And then the next year, we worked on ideas related to the sea and seafood as well, because we also believe in sustainable seafood. The kids actually drew on Jeffy's postcards that we call "etigami" and to express the importance of making things sustainable. May, tell us a bit more about your artwork. Are there any particular pieces that stand up to you? One that you find especially memorable and would like to share with us? Yeah sure, one of my most memorable art pieces I created is water, which was one of my favorite art pieces I created, boss setting at the Nervous Tribal in 2012, and a piece that made me the first Asian sculpture to defeat my work at the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel and Chicago Union Station. In creating this piece, I actually want to encourage people to take a moment and think outside of blocks and also appreciate lives and responsibilities. I believe that art is like life has a lot of twists and turns that can change one perspective and lead to new discoveries. If I had to pick one more art piece to talk about, it would have to be Boss in Love, which I created for Dutch Days in Hong Kong 2022, an event created together with the Netherlands template general in Faucoma Channel. This piece was actually inspired by the Netherlands a set of the art, a sustainable urban development and water management system. Wood is mediums that I often use in my artwork, including this piece, and I want audience on to envision iconic Dutch tulips and houseboats where the sea waves representing the Dutch spirit and tackling and many urban resilience issues. So I think this piece actually serves as a bridge which in Faucoma, Netherlands, and is a bridge that I will inspire more edict sharing collaborations. This seems like the perfect time to talk more about art of my family. May you've mentioned this charity a few times during our interview. It's called art of my family with my and why standing for your name may you. When I look at your website, you set various goals, making art accessible, promoting social inclusion, fostering cultural exchange, strengthening mental wellness, and championing environmental protection. These are all very important agendas. Looking back over the past six years, I'm curious, how would you assess your progress? Of course, we've reached a stage in life where we don't just judge our achievements based on record cards. And you've mentioned that you used to be a perfectionist, but now have a different perspective. But if you have to evaluate your progress over the last six years, how would you rate yourself? And as a follow-up looking forward, what else do you want to achieve? Are there areas where you feel you haven't done enough or where you believe you can do a better job? So it's a two-part question. First, assessing your past progress. And second, looking ahead and learning from the past to improve in the future. Before answering your question, I actually want to give a little bit of story behind why I set up art of my family in the first place. And then I'll talk a little bit more about what I plan to do and as well as how I assess myself. I actually, back then, as I mentioned earlier, I was serving as the CRSL lead at De La Vue. And I was launching a food recovery program where we managed to save a substantial amount of food and beverages and also provided thousands of news for determinacy. And that's when I realized my potential in supporting the community. And I decided to lean towards my passion through the arts and recognize that many underprivileged children did not have a chance to let art as I did. That's why I decided to set up art of my family in 2018. In terms of assessment, I would say that there is always world beyond world. And I just feel so blessed to be part of the art of my family. And also the family just continued to grow old. One of our key programs is actually Art Team Artist Scheme, which is basically striving to nurture the next generation of creative and artistic talents. And for that program, back then, we mainly partnered with the Hong Kong Design Institute. And now we actually expanded our program to, besides HKDI, we've expanded to Metropolitan University, City, City University, and also CC Design. So it's very exciting to see how the family grow. And we definitely want to continue to expand that to other universities in Hong Kong. But I think also one point, in terms of what I really wanted to do, I think one point really worth mentioning is that many children and youth in Hong Kong these days actually go through emotional turmoil. And the World Economic Forum actually projected the emotional problems would be one of the biggest problems by 2030. And the cost of mental health conditions would actually skyrocket to six trillion US dollars, globally by then. And so Art of my family actually has launched programs like Hearts at Home Program of the past year. I may hope to further expand this program to help strengthen the mental wellness of children with disabilities, and also those that lack family care, including those in a memorial home. So our goal was actually to ultimately help those help them to integrate into society and to walk up the shadow of the family negligence. Besides Art Sea Art Scheme and also Hearts at Cold Soldier, we actually architected structures, lives and unique characteristics and all 18 districts of Hong Kong, part of your show, the importance of art and not only beautifying the city but also supporting the mental well-being. Speaking of mental wellness or well-being, it's important to acknowledge that whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere in the world, aftermath of COVID, economic uncertainty, and other global challenges have created a lot a lot of stress. These art just isolated events. They are interconnected factors that bring about significant changes. In my view, embracing change can be a growth opportunity, but also brings mental pressure and negativity, which can impact everyone's well-being. I agree with you that wellness is crucial for everyone, from the elderly, who have their own challenges to children who are the pillars of our future society. Often, the mental issues we face as adults can be traced back to childhood, something that happened in the family or during those formative years, shapes how we see the world, how we behave, a mindset, and even a life in career choices. That's why I really admire your focus on intervening early in children's lives. The impact you're making goes beyond what can be measured financially. It's truly invaluable. For that, I applaud you. Now, I would like to web up our interview with a question that touches on the many roles you play. You run the charity, you are a mother raising a child, you take care of your own health, and you are a teaching artist with a wide range of interests. How do you balance all these different roles and responsibilities? And more importantly, what is your life mission now and going forward? The future is uncertain, the person is here, and the past is behind us. But when you set a goal for yourself, it's clear that you are fully committed and don't back out. So, what would you say? Is your life mission? My life mission is to inspire the next generation of artists and art educators. That's also why I decided to be a teaching artist. Because as a teaching artist, my goal is to leverage my experiences as a working professional, but also provide a unique link between the creative process and also the art race learning. And that's why I always try to develop specialized curriculum approaches to engage diverse groups from people with disabilities and presentations. And in particular, actually, my charity art of my family is a whole educational philosophy involved around the three scenes called Bizarre Incorporating Color. So, for example, the exhibition you visited in July, we actually designed a black box and competition to write outlines with university students. We co-created our work with subdivided unit children, including the Seeds of Hope High Code Wall, and co-learned with other peers as designers such as Bligox. So, I think what's special about teaching artists is that in their classroom, the other emerging artists and I actually work alongside the students. And we try to model the creative journey and also demonstrate the importance of visiting. And I share a real world experiences with Land Street Credge lessons, offering first-hand guidance on techniques and navigating the art world. So, I really believe that a symbolic relationship between the teaching artist's practice and also the environment process of creativity, dialogue and growth, for both me and students. So, the teaching artist's role is one of the provitation inspiration using my recipients to diversify the creative path and also to achieve my mission to inspire the next generation of artists and art educators. That's wonderful. May I'm really looking forward to seeing more of your artwork at attending your exhibitions. As I mentioned, next time when your son picks up more words and expands his vocabulary, we'll have an other interview. We'll do it entirely on video. We'll let him join in. That would be super awesome. Please talk to the baby already. So, I'm sure he'll be a talkative kid. Really appreciate May. Thank you so much. Thank you Vince. Thank you so much for the opportunity and Archie and I look forward to our catching up with you soon again. Thank you so much for joining us today. If you like what you heard, don't forget, subscribe to our show, leave us top-rated reviews, check out our website and follow me on social media. I'm Vince Chen, your ambitious human host. Until next time, take care. If you liked the show, please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe. It really does help the show to grow. Thank you for listening. [BLANK_AUDIO]
