Today we’d like to introduce you to Hsiao-Wei Chen.
Hi Hsiao-Wei, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a scenographer, visual storyteller and artist based in Austin, TX and Taiwan. I design costume, set and scenography for film, theatre, music videos, opera, dance and other performance media. Now I’m about to finish my M.F.A. Degree from The University of Texas at Austin this May.
It was the summer of my fifteen. I went to a theatre performance with my cousin, and it changed my life ever since. I was deeply touched by the power of the performance and decided to go to college and study theatre and drama. It wasn’t an easy choice since none of my family members were in art-related industry, and they believed I should go to those more promising colleges, such as business administration or so. So there had been a while that my parents were pretty against my decision. I thought that was also a factor push me harder because I wanted to prove I didn’t make the wrong choice. So I guess that’s why I’m a Pacific Ocean away now living in Austin.
I started my professional career since 2014 which was my last year of undergrad in National Taiwan University. I’ve designed couple of shows and short films for costumes and collaborated with a good amounts of different theatre companies and directors before I decided to pursue my Master in the States. Being part of UT Austin is one of the greatest decisions in my life. I met bunch of amazing cohorts and inspiring advisers here and was able to participate in a huge diversity of productions that helped me grow a lot as a designer throughout three years here.
As a scenography designer, my job is to bring story alive in real world, which is my favorite part of the job. I do storytelling in a visual way by creating the world that characters live in. It sometimes makes me feel like witch or something magical. I read forests, fairies, frog from scripts, and I bring them to live in front of audience. The world might be a near future cyber city, a medieval village, a grand palace in ancient Asia. I deeply enjoy the process to build up the circumstances and characters detail by detail, just as the time I built up the greatest sandcastle when I was five.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The biggest challenge is always to figure out the appropriate interpretation for each production when I can’t find a muse or control myself not to throw bottle to other people. Just kidding, I never put that into practice.
Since there is no right answer in design and art, it is hard to tell whether I make the “right” decision or not. It is not possible to predict the taste of the audience preciously, and it varies from different cultures and regions, which make it even harder but also a fun process to learn new things with every new productions. I will say my career has been always challenging in an exciting way. Nothing is always the same, just as how the world works. And this is why I found myself I fit in this industry since I like to be challenged.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I found myself as a designer with a spontaneous range of aesthetics. I love to create different styles of design with different types of productions and directors. I’m a fast and creative thinker and good at communication and collaboration. Now, one of my costume design for Love & Information is about to open on April. 14, and will run till April.24 at Brockett Theatre in UT Austin. I’m also under design process for a biography film, an immersive theatre and a theatre for young audience. My colleagues always find me busy with multiple productions at the same time, I really enjoy being able to work on more than one production and I always do my best to make sure they are attractive to our audience.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
It was interesting that the film and music video I designed for usually receive really good awards from a diverse of film festival worldwide. I’m trying really hard to keep this good luck with the production team I work with, hope it can last at least five more years.
Contact Info:
- Email: hsiaoweichendesign@gmail.com
- Website: www.hsiaoweichen.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hsiaoweichen.design/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hsiao-wei-chen-b100b1115/
Image Credits
Logan Smith Jackson Cobb Hsiao-Wei Chen Sharon Chan
