Sharpay Chenyue Yuan is a London-based illustrator, community practitioner and educator whose interest sits in exploring inter-relations between site and its social histories and those who struggle in living there. She usually combines field visiting and archival methods to develop retroactive, multi-voiced narratives, and her work shows her growing commitment to apply participatory process to give voice to the community. Her work usually relies on drawing and text, using both traditional and digital media, and she is currently expanding her practice into ceramics — applying narratives in space rather than on paper.

Chenyue’s illustration has been recognised by New York Times and Die Zeit, and she is also the recipient of V&A Illustration Awards 2022 (Student Runner-up). 

Welcome to say hi or discuss any potential collaborations!

CONTACT




EDUCATION





RECENT
POSITIONS






PUBLICATIONS





SELECTED
EXHIBITIONS

chenyue.yuan@network.rca.ac.uk (for International)
yuanchenyue0115@163.com (for Mainland China)
@yuan_chenyue


Royal College of Art (RCA)
MA Visual Communication  2019-2021 | London, UK
Sun Yat-Sen University (SYSU)
BA Archival Science 2015-2019 | Guangzhou, CHI


Sessional Lecturer
at Universtiy for the Creative Arts | UK | since 2022
Associate Lecturer/Visiting Practitioner
at Central Saint Martins | UK | 2023
Graduate Ambassador
at Royal College of Art | UK | 2023


Gugu on the Pasture
(Hangzhou: Zhejiang Photographic Press, 2025)
The Shanghairen
collective (Hangzhou: Zhejiang Photographic Press, 2021)


Renewal: A Former Town (SOLO)
CantonBon | Shunde | 13 September-27 October 2024
Centre In Progress
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration | London | 8-18 September 2022
V&A Illustration Awards 2022
V&A Museum | London | 20 July-9 October 2022
Finding Home—Late at Tate Britain 
Tate Britain | London | 3-5 December 2021

SELECTED
CLIENTS





LECTURES
+ TALKS








OTHER
EXHIBITIONS



























RESIDENCIES






COLLECTIONS



PRESS

New York Times, Die Zeit, ‘A Space’ Arts Gallery,
Zhejiang Photographic Press, Noema Magazine,
Architectural Review, 栩栩多多 (New York Times
for Kids China), It'sFreezinginLA, Ambit Magazine,
Golab Agency, etc.


Camberwell College of Art (UAL, UK), University
for the Creative Arts (Farnham, UK), TodayDesign
(Design360, China), Academy of Visual Arts
(HKBU, Hong Kong), Konstfack (University of
Arts, Crafts and Design, Sweden), Chelsea
College of Art (UAL, UK), University of Brighton
(Brighton, UK), Royal College of Art (London, UK),
New Designers (London, UK)


Seeding in Communities
All Soul in Live | Shunde, China | 3-17 December 2024
Plant Forest at Home
Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture | Taichung, Taiwan |
2 Oct-27 Nov 2024
Madrid IllustraFest
Universidad De Diseño, Innovación Y Technología | Madrid, Spain |
April 2024
Shaping the Marginal
125 New Bond Street | London, United Kingdom | 30 March-7 April 2023
Bologna Children’s Book Fair
Via della Fiera, 20 | Bologna, Italy | 6-9 March 2023
‘I am Many Stories/The Stories of a Better Tomorrow’
Chapel Arts | Cheltenham, United Kingdom | 23 February-5 March 2022
Tell Us a Story...  
Gerald Moore Gallery | London, United Kingdom |
13 January-19 February 2022
Yilooook Art Festival 2.0—Collective Exhibition
LINKHEAD Gallery | Suzhou, China | October 2021
Terminal
Ugly Duck | London, United Kingdom | June 2021
RCA 2021
Online | Royal College of Art | June 2021
Work in Progress Show 2021
Online | Royal College of Art | January 2021
Confession of Shanghai - Illustrator Collection II
The Mix Place | Shanghai, China | August-September 2020


Shunde Social Innovation Centre
+Social Practice Lab
Drifting Lands Artist Residency | CHN | 2024
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration
New River Head Micro Residency | UK | 2021


Islington Museum(2024), V&A Museum(2022),
Lingnan Museum of Fine Art(2014) and private collection


Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration↗
A Q&A with illustrator Sharpay Chenyuè Yuán 
It's Nice That↗
Illustrator Chenyue Yuan digs deep into social histories to tell the
story of Chinese labourers living and working in factories
Creative Boom↗
Illustrator Chenyue Yuan tells the story of Chinese factory workers
in Pearl's Daughters
ARTFORUM↗
“浮土志”艺术家驻地计划展览观察
Social Practice Lab(社实SPL)↗
袁琛玥：艺术一定要由艺术家来做吗？｜浮土志访谈
英国VA博物馆 (V&A Chinese Official)↗
我的V&A｜学生插画家亚军夏朴：追随直觉，创作出能被人记住的故事
Design 360
海边的女儿：追忆父辈80年代工厂生活，平实朴素的画面中涌动着
真挚情感
GroundOohArt↗
Ooh Art Saturday | 夏朴 Sharpay
Messimage↗
Messimage Talk | Sharpay Yuan在叙事图像中体验微妙又实在的刺痛感

WRITTINGS





JURY



AWARDS 

Visual histories of labour: Imagining, archiving and
interpreting illustrations of Chinese workers from the
1880s and 1980s
collaborative, featured in Colouring in-The Past, ISSN 2752-9533


4th Young Battle Awards 
Young Jury | China | 2022


2022
V&A Illustration Awards   Student Runner-up
World Illustration Awards    Alternative Publishing Shortlist
Signature Art Prize    Drawing and Print Finalist
2021
Graduate 360    Top 10 Annual Art Graduate of China
Young Battle Award     Top 10 Annual Art Graduate of China
World Illustration Awards     Book Cover Longlist  
The Cheltenham Illustration Awards   Highly Commended
IJUNGLE Illustration Awards     Comic Merit Award    
2020
Communication Arts - Illustration Annual Award 
Personalized Award of Excellence Trophy
The Cheltenham Illustration Awards    Highly Commended
IJUNGLE Illustration Award     New Talent Merit Award