Melanie Lixiyue Yan: Storyteller

Melanie Lixiyue Yan (she/they) is a Takronto-based, Chinese-born interdisciplinary artist. Yan’s work revolves around applying paper-based media practice hybrid with digital technologies to reflect on her research in Asian-diaspora, eco-feminism and queer studies. With a background in illustration and zines, Yan is also actively working on making zines and facilitating workshops around zine culture. So far, Yan has engaged with Asian-diasporic and queer communities in ten different cities through workshops and community events in both Asia and North America. The zines Yan has made are collected by the Toronto Public Library, York University, OCAD University, Nottingham University Ningbo, and New York University Shanghai. Yan’s academic research centers around topics in immigration experience, nature, feminism and queer identity. Currently, Yan is a research assistant at the Asiatic Itineraries Research Center at OCAD University, where she is studying for an MDes degree.