Exploring the Intersection of Light, Technology, and Emotion: A Conversation with Yilun Zhan
October 2024
Yilun Zhan
​​instagram @yilia_lighting
https://www.behance.net/yilun_lightingart
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In an era where technology and traditional mediums increasingly converge, Yilun Zhan stands at the forefront of artistic innovation. Her work spans lighting design, virtual and augmented reality, and performance art, employing light not only as a physical element but as a vessel for emotional and spiritual expression. This interview offers insights into the artist’s creative process, exploring how various mediums have shaped their work, the role of emotional resonance in lighting design, and how emerging technologies are poised to redefine the field.


Meta Cat Café project
How do you express emotional and spiritual connections through various mediums like lighting design, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and performance art? How have these mediums influenced your work?
Yilun Zhan: I explore the emotional and spiritual connections of light through lighting design, VR, AR, and performance art. These mediums allow me to create immersive, interactive experiences that engage the audience on a deeper sensory level.
Lighting, for me, is an emotional language. I design it with the cultural context, audience, and project’s essence in mind, using light as part of the narrative to evoke feelings like warmth, tension, or tranquility. In performance art, I let light become an extension of the emotions on stage, enhancing immersion.
In VR and AR, I use tools like C4D and Arnold to create spaces where light guides the audience’s exploration, adding a layer of interactivity that invites personal interpretation. This flexibility makes the emotional expression of light more dynamic.
By blending real and virtual, light and shadow, my work creates a space for emotional and spiritual resonance, allowing abstract ideas to be felt and experienced.



Photos documenting the project Through Limits
Please share your experience working on the UAAD project Jukebox of Dissonance. How did you use lighting design in combination with dance to tell a complete story?
YZ: In Jukebox of Dissonance with UAAD, we told the story of emotional change and personal breakthroughs under the theme Through Limits. The dancers first presented a state of emotional low, followed by madness and anxiety, leading to physical and mental turmoil. Eventually, they discovered a new perspective through their struggles, exploring an entirely new world and uncovering a fresh outlook.
The unique challenge in this project was how to use light in combination with the dancers’ body language to express the emotional highs and lows. By adjusting the intensity of the light, color choices, and material changes, I was able to amplify the dancers’ expressions, helping the audience directly feel the tension and emotional shifts in the story. For example, during the period of emotional struggle, I used low-brightness point lights and selective shadows to show the characters battling their limits. When the dancers reached the moment of breakthrough, I used bright and highly saturated lights to free the entire scene from tension, symbolizing the awakening of strength and the completion of the breakthrough.
In the 2023 Beijing Virtual Fashion Week project CORAL, how did you integrate lighting design with the virtual fashion environment? What challenges did this virtual setting bring to your creation?
YZ: In CORAL, I integrated lighting design with virtual fashion, using the physical properties of light to enhance the texture and futuristic feel of the virtual fashion theme. I used spotlights to highlight intricate accessories. The light emitted from a point into a conical area creates a focused effect with clear boundaries, making it ideal for illuminating specific objects or areas and producing a dramatic effect. I also used mesh lights to provide large-area lighting, making the visual scene more uniform and harmonious.
This virtual environment gave me more creative freedom but also presented challenges, particularly in balancing the realism of the lighting with the unique physical properties of the virtual space. Lighting design needed to consider the reflection, refraction, and color rendering of virtual materials, ensuring that the visual effects were convincing in the virtual space, yet as realistic as in real life. These challenges pushed me to refine my technical and artistic abilities further.​
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Fashion Designer: Jasmine G(Morpho Studio)
Set Designer:Sya Zhang
How has your painting influenced your approach to lighting design? What specific impact has visual art had on your lighting work?
YZ: My abstract painting has been one of my main sources of inspiration for lighting design. The color combinations, spatial composition, and the relationship between light and shadow in my paintings directly influence how I approach lighting design. I apply many painting techniques to lighting, such as using different colors and light intensities to create a sense of spatial depth, using light to represent points, lines, and planes, and expressing emotions through color gradients. The influence of visual art has made me pay more attention to the details and texture of light and the composition of space, which not only enhances the performance of light in a scene but also helps me better convey complex emotions.
How do you blend traditional lighting techniques with virtual technology to create immersive experiences? What technical or artistic challenges have you encountered in this process?
YZ: In blending traditional lighting techniques with virtual technology, I deeply understand how different light sources can create an atmosphere in a traditional environment. In virtual spaces, my goal is not only to light the entire scene but also to give the audience a surreal experience beyond physical reality. I try to create non-physical lighting effects that spark the audience’s curiosity and desire to explore.
One of the greatest challenges in this process is the limitations of virtual technology. For example, existing design and modeling software cannot directly simulate non-physical lighting effects. I can only achieve these effects indirectly by using special materials, creating surreal lighting effects that require me to break away from traditional thinking and technical frameworks.
From an artistic standpoint, this fusion has led to significant creative breakthroughs. Virtual spaces offer more freedom for experimentation, allowing me to explore the possibilities of light and shadow. I continually push the boundaries of imagination, creating visual experiences that offer audiences a new way to perceive and interact with the virtual world.
How do natural elements like the cosmos, sunrise, mountains, and life cycles play a role in your work? How do they shape the emotional tone of your projects?
YZ: Natural elements play a crucial role in my work, particularly in expressing emotional and spiritual layers. The vastness of the cosmos, the hope in a sunrise, the resilience of mountains, and the endless cycles of life are not just visual symbols but are also mediums through which I convey complex emotions. These elements carry immense symbolic power—sunrise symbolizes rebirth and hope, mountains represent human resilience and transcendence when faced with challenges, and the stars and shadows of the cosmos reflect my endless contemplation of existence.
In virtual spaces and performance art, these natural phenomena inject deep philosophical thought and emotional interaction into my work. Through lighting design, I express the changes in nature and the cycles of life as a tangible artistic language, not only creating a visual atmosphere but also evoking the audience’s inner reflection. The vastness and glow of the cosmos, the gradual and radiant transition of a sunrise, allow my work to shift between serenity and grandeur, giving it emotional depth and spiritual tension, encouraging the audience to perceive the delicate relationship between humans and nature, between the inner and outer worlds. This use of natural elements transcends the physical limits of my work, becoming a bridge for emotions and thoughts, guiding the audience to experience the cycle of life and infinite possibilities.
In your creative process, how do you find a balance between digital technology and natural inspiration? Why is this balance important in your work?
YZ: For me, technology is not the core of art but a tool to extend emotional expression inspired by nature. I want technology to add more dimensions to the work, rather than dominate it.
My creative process usually starts with elements from nature, such as the sunrise, dusk, or the cosmos, which inspire me emotionally and visually. For example, I often use VR or AR technology to simulate the changes in light and shadow found in nature, recreating those moments of beauty and emotional depth. Through this technology, I can re-interpret the power of nature in virtual spaces, allowing the audience to not only see the visual beauty of the work but also feel the natural emotions behind it.

Meta Cat Café project
Please share the biggest breakthrough or most challenging moment during your creative process. How have these experiences contributed to your growth as an artist?
YZ: The biggest breakthrough and challenge in my creative process come from maintaining artistic agency in an era of rapid AI advancement and an influx of diverse media, without being overwhelmed by these technical tools. Especially in the Meta Cat Café project, I faced many cutting-edge tools, trying to combine AR, VR, and lighting design. However, the current modeling software still has limitations when it comes to lighting design, and most of it can only approximate real-life lighting effects. What I seek is not just mimicking reality but creating tools that allow lighting designers to express abstraction and imagination.
This exploration and reflection on tools have led me to continually rethink and break boundaries in artistic creation. Each new technological medium is not just a functional tool but broadens the possibilities of artistic expression. For example, AR and VR provide me with a new way to perceive space, allowing lighting to break free from physical constraints and achieve richer expression in the virtual world.
Through continuously learning and practicing these advanced technologies, I have realized that as an artist, the most important thing is to extend emotional expression through these tools, rather than allowing the tools to replace it. This shift in mindset has driven the evolution of my artistic style, allowing me to think beyond the limitations of technology and create works with greater depth and complexity.
What lighting techniques do you use to enhance the emotional resonance of your work? What aspects do you focus on to ensure the audience can feel the emotions conveyed by the light?
YZ: In my lighting design, I use subtle techniques to evoke emotional resonance, viewing light not just as a visual tool but as an emotional medium. By adjusting light intensity, color, direction, and shadows, I guide the audience’s emotions and enhance the work’s impact.
Color plays a central role, with warm tones like orange and red suggesting hope or vitality, while cool tones such as blue evoke calm or melancholy. Light intensity and softness are also key—soft lighting can create a relaxed mood, while stronger light adds tension.
Shadows introduce mystery and depth, emphasizing emotional tension or metaphor. I use the interplay of light and shadow to direct focus and shift emotional tones. Finally, I pay close attention to the rhythm of light. Just as emotions fluctuate, dynamic lighting—such as simulating a sunrise—creates a natural flow that connects the audience with shifts in time and emotion.
What are the main differences you face when designing lighting for live events versus fully virtual environments? How do your design strategies differ between the two?
YZ: Designing lighting for live events and virtual environments involves different challenges and strategies. In live events, my goal is to work with the physical space, using light to shape the environment and intensify the atmosphere. I carefully consider factors like the audience’s position, reflection, refraction, and shadows to ensure the lighting amplifies the emotional tone. The angle, brightness, and color of the light directly impact the audience’s experience, and it’s important that the lighting synchronizes with the space, stage design, and performers’ movements.
In virtual environments, there are no physical constraints, which offers more creative freedom but brings new challenges. Here, I can manipulate intensity, color, and even create non-physical light sources to heighten the immersive experience. For example, in the Meta Cat Café project, I used AR and VR technologies to explore how virtual light could guide the audience’s emotions and focus. This allows for surreal effects, constantly adjusting the interaction between light and the audience for deeper immersion.
In live events, the strategy is to adapt to the physical space and audience in real time, while in virtual spaces, it’s about transcending physical limits and crafting an emotional atmosphere unbound by reality. Though virtual environments offer infinite possibilities, keeping balance and coherence is essential to ensure the seamless blending of nature and technology.

Meta Cat Café project
You mentioned that light is an indispensable yet often overlooked element in daily life. How do you use light as a storytelling tool to highlight its significance?
YZ: Lighting as a storytelling tool is unique in its ability to guide the audience’s emotions and perceptions through silent visual language. In my work, I control the intensity, direction, color, and interplay of light and shadow to create different atmospheres and advance the narrative.
The strength and rhythm of light play a crucial role in storytelling. By gradually increasing or decreasing light, I can control the emotional pacing of the narrative. For instance, slowly intensifying light can build tension, while gradually dimming it can convey a sense of loss or closure. In the Meta Cat Café project, I used this technique to naturally transition the audience’s emotions alongside the light, deepening emotional engagement.
Additionally, color choices are central to lighting as a narrative tool. Different colors trigger subconscious reactions in the audience—cool tones suggest mystery or solitude, while warm tones evoke comfort and safety. By using these color shifts, I convey different emotional layers, turning light into the emotional storyteller.
Finally, the interaction between light and shadow stimulates the audience’s imagination. Shadows can imply undisclosed plot elements or internal conflicts within characters, adding tension to the narrative. In virtual-reality projects, I break the limitations of physical space by creating non-physical light effects, forming more complex narrative structures. Light then becomes more than just illumination—it drives both the story and the emotional core of the piece.
Through these techniques, I elevate light from a supporting role to a primary narrative tool, enabling it not only to illuminate space but also to shape emotions and propel the story forward.

Meta Cat Café project
What innovative ideas or explorations are you pursuing in the future of lighting design? How do you see emerging technologies changing the field?
YZ: Looking ahead, I am exploring how to combine AI, big data, AR, and VR to drive innovation in lighting design. With support from big data, lighting design can become more precise and personalized. For example, big data can analyze users’ emotions, behaviors, and environments to tailor lighting scenes that align more closely with specific needs, creating deeper emotional and visual interaction.
I believe that AI will fundamentally change the way lighting is designed, especially in virtual and augmented reality. Traditional lighting design software usually replicates real-world lighting effects, but the direction I’m pursuing involves using AI to generate non-physical lighting effects, allowing lighting design to transcend the imitation of reality and create entirely new visual and emotional experiences. For example, I hope AI can become a designer’s assistant, learning and analyzing user needs to automatically generate lighting design plans, helping lighting designers surpass current technical limitations.
At the same time, the continuous development of AR and VR technologies is bringing more immersive possibilities to lighting design. Since virtual spaces are free from physical constraints, I have more freedom to create lighting effects that cannot be realized in reality, providing audiences with a new sensory experience. By integrating these emerging technologies into lighting design, I can explore broader dimensions of expression, creating works that are more personalized, interactive, and emotionally rich.
How have audience reactions from different environments impacted your work? How do you use this feedback to improve or adjust your creative process?
YZ: Audience feedback has had a profound impact on my work, particularly from viewers with different cultural backgrounds and environments. Their reactions provide new perspectives that help shape my creative process. Whether in performance art or virtual spaces, I place great importance on this feedback to continuously optimize my work.
In performance art, audience reactions are often the most intuitive. Viewers from different cultural backgrounds may interpret lighting and emotions differently, and their feedback helps me understand which emotional effects can cross cultural boundaries and which need more concrete or abstract expression. For example, in some performances, I found that specific color choices or changes in lighting intensity could evoke dramatically different emotional responses in different cultures. Based on this feedback, I adjust the color or rhythm of the lighting to better guide the audience’s emotional connection.
In virtual spaces, the feedback is often more technical, with audiences focusing on immersion and interactivity. I use this feedback to refine the lighting and user experience in virtual environments. For example, some viewers have noted that the lighting in certain virtual scenes was too static or lacked variation, prompting me to explore more complex lighting designs that enhance interactivity. I aim for the audience to feel the effect of light on the environment through their actions or changes in perspective. This interactive feedback not only helps me improve the technical presentation but also pushes me to think about how to more effectively convey emotion in virtual spaces.
How is the rhythm of nature (such as life cycles) reflected in your specific projects? How do you combine these rhythms with virtual and live setups?
YZ: In my projects, I often capture the rhythm of nature through shifts in light, color gradients, and the passage of time. For example, in a project simulating the day-night cycle, I use changes in light intensity and tone to represent different phases of the day—from dawn to dusk—symbolizing life’s cycle and the flow of time. These gradual lighting transitions not only visually reflect nature’s rhythm but also evoke an emotional response, encouraging the audience to contemplate life’s ever-changing nature.
In virtual setups, I use technology to enhance this natural rhythm. In virtual reality scenes, dynamic lighting changes, controlled by algorithms, replicate natural events like the sun’s rise and set or seasonal transitions. This approach allows the audience to not just see, but fully “experience” these natural cycles in an immersive way.
In live settings, expressing natural rhythm depends more on the interaction between lighting and space design. For live performances, I design lighting transitions that mirror the rhythm of the performance, symbolizing growth, decay, and rebirth in nature. These shifts in lighting enhance emotional expression and allow the audience to engage both visually and emotionally, experiencing the calm or impact of nature’s rhythm.
By combining natural rhythms in both virtual and live environments, I aim to create a balanced visual experience that reflects nature’s tranquility while offering a modern, tech-driven artistic presentation. This fusion breathes life into my work, helping the audience forge a deeper connection with the natural world.




Sunrise project