Creative Spotlight | Amy Ge

Published on 25 February 2021

* Please note, images have been cropped. Check out Amy’s Instagram for full images.

Tell us a bit about who you are and what kind of creative work you make
I'm Amy, an illustrator, graphic designer and animator working on Wallumedegal land. My practice spans all different mediums, but I most regularly make digital illustrations, zines and rubber-block stamps.

I have to differentiate what I make for myself and for clients. My personal work is what results from working through my subject of interest at the time. This might be  a species of endangered freshwater fish in Western Australia, or a beautiful colour, or just an empty feeling that I want to reflect upon.

Are there any special processes, techniques or tools you use to make your creative work?
I generally still sketch things by hand into a Rollbahn notebook before I start digitally if it's a big project. I usually have a scrap of an idea saved on my phone's notes and I need to work it out by hand, without the undo button distracting me. For this, I have a favourite mechanical pencil, the Pentel GraphGear 500, which can fit my favourite blue Pilot 0.7mm lead.

For digital illustrations, I use an iPad Pro and the programs Procreate for raster work and Concepts for vector work. I also use my iPad for animations. For graphic design, I use Figma and Affinity Publisher.

How does your personal history, culture or experience inform your creative work?
As an Australian with Chinese ethnicity, much of my experience in and of society centres around ways of communication, understanding and translation. It feels natural to go from these interactions into a creative field where the same demands and interrogations are made of yourself and your work. My work is always informed by a sense of how difficult communicating can be, and when or when not to make attempts to bridge a gap in understanding.

What is a creative project that you’ve worked on that you’re really proud of? Why?
During the lockdown months last year, I was fortunate enough to have the time and strength to work on an intensely personal project called Xiang Mama. I went through an archive of photo albums left to me by my grandmother of my mother in her youth. I lost my mother when I was a child, so going through that archive meant a lot to me.

It was very different from my normal illustrative practice, as there was no brief or client in sight. I'm fairly private when it comes to my family, so exhibiting the resulting text and images was really like revealing a journal entry - but at the end of it, I did feel proud.

What creative project are you working on at the moment?
I'm currently working on a collaborative project with a long-time friend of mine! We both work other jobs, so it's great to be able to share the workload and explore our ideas, aesthetics and themes together.

Where can we find out more about your work and get in touch?
You can find some of my work on Instagram at @yma_ge, and you can get in touch with me by shooting over an email at contact.ymage@gmail.com.