Yan Yu Lee

MA Illustration and Book Arts

Yan Yu Lee is an illustrator born and raised in Hong Kong. She came to London at the age of 18 and developed her practice in the UK since then. In 2017 she graduated in BA
illustration from Camberwell College of Arts and continued her MA study at Cambridge School of Art.

She characterizes her work as bold and delicate at the same time. Her style is diverse but always visually bold with delicate textures and details. She likes to create works that are simple yet dynamic, sometimes with a touch of humour and playfulness.

She works in everything related to visual storytelling, from children’s books to editorial illustrations and more.

The Hermit Crab

Having the experience of studying and living in a different country for years, the idea of not knowing where to settle is a constant debate. The uncertainty is scary and sometimes frustrated. It has also became a common topic Yan Yu discusses with her friends in her hometown because of the recent political situation. That evolved into the inspiration for her to work around this topic and create the story. In this project, she illustrated a story of a young and confused hermit carb searching for its own shell, to convey the struggles of transition and finding one's own identity.