For this artist interview, I caught up with a make-up artist I've worked with, Yilin Du, who is a freelance make-up artist. She is also a digital media artist and graduated from Central Saint Martins. After her studies, she worked at Show Studio for a year. In this artist interview, Yilin Du share some of her creations. Then she talked to me about how she balances her work and personal creation.

1.Can you introduce yourself?
Yilin Du: My name is Yilin, and I am a character designer and make-up artist based in London.

2.What is your favourite piece of your own work? Can you talk about why?
Yilin Du: I love all my make-up work! Especially the various types of floral and also lace looks I've been experimenting with on my own face lately. Because when I was creating my makeup, I got to know myself once again. I discovered the subtle influence of the anime I watched as a child and the Pure Love aesthetic. Creating on my own made me feel freer, from creating to shooting and selecting images for posting allowed me to improvise with minimal costs. It's very challenging and fun! My 3D avatar work is also based on a personal image, which is modelled to present different effects of myself.

3. What information do you hope to convey through your work?
Yilin Du: I'm discussing the impact of online virtual space (technology) on human identity. My artistic practice stems from her curiosity about human identity. As a character designer, I became increasingly interested in expanding traditional narratives beyond their conventional boundaries and into a digital environment. The more I explored storytelling and character, the more interested I became in expanding the world. Virtual space was the answer." This interest led her to transition into digital art, leveraging various digital tools to present different perspectives of personal representation.

4.Do you have a particular favourite artist or philosopher? Can you talk about how their work has influenced your creation?
Yilin Du: My favourite artist is Chang Yu, whose work Hieronymus Bosch has a strong influence on me. In the past two years, I have been more interested in Buddhism and Taoism. I am trying to understand the philosophical attitude of 'Taoism and nature'. I draw inspiration and energy from nature. I hope I can be more comfortable and peaceful in my creations.

5.Can you talk about the relationship between your life and your creations?
Yilin Du: I think that creating gives me back my zest for life and makes me happier and more confident. Sometimes life's stresses can take away my motivation but looking back at past works and being close to nature can restore some of my spirit.

6.How do you balance your creations with your work? Do you continue to create personally after you work?
Yilin Du: After I started working, I learnt the hard way that it’s too hard to balance creation and work. So I'm sticking to making time for make-up and modelling. Adjustments were made based on my energy and reality. For example, if I can't work on a shoot, I'll put makeup on my face (efficiently) and find new creation ways to express my idea.