Yang Sio Maan is a Visual Storyteller

Yang Sio Maan is a natural storyteller. With a background in English Literature, she moved on to explore a different path of storytelling—one that doesn’t require language. Based in Macau, she describes her work as “visual storytelling,” with her illustrations made to look textured and layered.

As an emerging illustrator, Sio Maan’s works were awarded New Talent Category Winner at the World Illustration Awards by the Association of Illustrators (UK) and Best of the Best at Hiii Illustration by Hiiibrand (China). “I never expected my works to end up on the other side of the world,” she admitted in an interview with My UM. “I didn’t even know that there are college majors in illustration,” she went on to say.

With a love of narrative, inspiration comes easy for Maan. “It could be anything,” she says, “the music I suddenly hear, a joke my friend tells, or something funny I see on the campus… they attract my attention, and I record what they make me feel at the moment by sketching.” Those sketches are then turned into fully fleshed ideas that she shares through her Instagram page.

“Pursuing arts full-time is not easy, but it gives me a lot of satisfaction,” she says, adding that she will keep on going. We’re rooting for her!

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