Portfolio
Emma’s Portfolio
Passion Projects
Dreamland
Dreamland / Scintillate
As the leader of the Zhixing Scintillate, I led the team to teach the students of a local school and assisted them throughout the process of preparing a Disney musical.
Besides teaching the lines, songs and dance choreography, we also worked closely with the children to help them build confidence, enable them to better embody their roles, and transform the nervous beginners into confident performers on stage.
Witnessing the children's joy and courage as they performed on the final live show fulfilled a childhood dream of mine that I had held for a long time.
Dreamland / Media Parks
This summer, I had several field trips to Disneyland and Universal Studios California.
During these visits, I delved into the history, spatial design, and operation management of the parks. I was not merely content with simple sightseeing; I also focused on how immersive environments were constructed to shape tourists' emotional and narrative experiences.
I wrote analytical papers about the multi-layered design principles behind these immersive experiences, breaking down storytelling techniques, sensory cues, and architectural choices. These elements together created a dreamlike world that made tourists feel as if they were outside of reality.
I also interviewed Disney imageneries and front-line staff of the parks to understand how they collaborated and meticulously crafted and maintained these ingeniously conceived fantasy worlds.
This practical research deepened my understanding of theme entertainment. It revealed a convincing fantasy space that not only relies on visual spectacles but also requires coherent narrative expression and people-centered design concepts.
Dreamland / Creative Film
Inspiration
Apollinaria Broche (b.1995, Moscow), based in Paris and Pietrasanta. Inspired by art history, she makes fanciful landscapes filled with dreamy flowers and mutated mythical creatures. Using ceramic and bronze sculpture and installation, she constructs surreal fantasy realms.
Brainstorm
Layout & Circulation
Top-view garden layout. Barrier-free walkways connect all scenes.
Bidirectional photo areas reserved at every stop.
Installations
Progressive first-person sight sequence to deliver tranquil immersive touring experience.
Sightline & Experience
Chinese garden matched with translucent luminous crystal structures including giant flowers, fountain sculptures and folding screens. Buildable design with scale and load considered.
WonderPark Film Series builds an immersive Chinese-style amusement park story based on classical oriental gardens, where reality and fantasy coexist. Following visitors’ real touring path, the film starts with an aerial top-down overview of the whole garden, then advances along physical walkable routes: wandering through crystal flower wonderland, viewing the lake through lattice windows, touching giant crystal lotus blooms, exploring the crystal courtyard installation, and boating along the water alley. The series adopts first-person immersive perspective with multiple buildable on-site photo spots. It blends dreamlike crystal installation art with traditional Chinese garden architecture. Blurring the boundary between virtual fantasy and physical space, the audience embarks on a walkable, photo-friendly garden journey. Visitors enjoy a poetic oriental wonderland adventure woven by reality and imagination.
First-person perspective storytelling
Scene 1: Visitors act as participants, hands gently touching the giant crystal lotus on the water surface, getting close to the dreamlike scenery and stepping into the wonderland.
Scene 2: The transition is realized by pushing open the traditional Chinese lattice window. Through the window frame, mist shrouds the garden and boats on the lake, creating a ritual feeling of stepping into a secret paradise.
Scene 3/4: The viewpoint moves to the bow of the boat. We cruise along the lake and wander through the waterside Chinese-style amusement park.
Photo spots
Two resting photo spots with bidirectional shooting space in front and behind. Combining classical garden and crystal installation art to integrate virtual visuals with real garden scenery.
WonderPark. Step into wonder, wander through oriental dreams.
The coherent hand movements and progressive perspectives turn static images into a continuous tour journey. From touching the landscape, pushing the window to explore the view, to boating along the lake, visitors experience the whole garden in first-person view. It reduces the sense of distance as a spectator and brings strong immersive tranquility。
Top-down aerial view shows the overall garden layout. Physical walking routes are arranged to connect all scenic nodes, enhancing spatial realism and forming a complete walkable touring system.
AIGC video
Light Agency
Under the dazzling stage lights of K-pop, there lies a complex industry.
This project takes "light" as its core metaphor: the stage lights are not only the dazzling spotlights that shape the glamorous public image of the idols, but also the perspective through which I examine the real operational mechanism of this industry.
I am no longer just a passive fan, but an active creator - creating portraits print works that depict their public images, conducting real interviews with the artists, and planning dance performances. This project explores how light constructs the vivid star illusion.
Light Agency / Portrait Print
Diverse individuals, diverse characteristics.
This was my first attempt at printmaking, a traditional craft of Suzhou. I chose a hard subject — close-up portraits. Instead of a pen, I used the carving knife to draw the lines and details of the face, then transferred the print onto paper with ink.
When creating this series of portraits, I perceive that every individual is unique. Despite similar facial features, people differ in appearances and personalities.
Frames and special-shaped lenses are adopted for display. Refracted portraits through lenses further explore the theme of "diverse faces of humanity
November 2024
material： eraser blocks, printmaking ink, carving knife
Display method
Portrait Print / Cracked Image Interpretation
the imagery is imprinted on cracked clay. Beneath the flawless public image of idols lie cracks and authentic humanity.
This series came from the people I admire. I drew their portraits on eraser blocks and carved them out by hand. The prints follow Suzhou's traditional printmaking methods, but I used unconventional colored inks, which gives them a strong graphic look and makes them highly decorative.
February 2025
Material:eraser blocks, printmaking ink, carving knife, xuan paper
I transferred idol imagery, carved as rubber stamps, onto handcrafted irregular clay pieces. Subtle cracks on the clay imply that idols appear perfect, yet everyone has strengths and flaws.
Such unruly forms of growth shape each person’s unique individuality.
Light Agency / TikTok / Weibo Account
I created an account on TikTok to post the interviews and my critical thinking blogs of the industry, with 400k+ views.
Light Agency / interviews
Through both online and offline interviews, I conducted in-depth conversations with idols to go beyond the meticulously crafted stage narratives created by the lights and the media. I asked about their creative decisions, daily work processes, and the unseen pressures behind the entertainment industry. They provided an unadorned and raw perspective, laying the foundation for my project and helping me contrast the dazzling public image with their real life experiences.
Light Agency / Hiphop / Afro dance
I enjoy being under the spotlight.
As the leader of China Band and a member of both hip-hop and Afro dance groups, I actively engaged in different performances, feeling how stage lighting are powerful can amplify emotion and reshape how audiences see the beauty of dance movements and rhythms created by the instruments.
Voices Unseen
After reflecting on how mainstream media portrays visually impaired individuals through narrow and stereotypical perspectives - reducing them to objects of sympathy or inspiration rather than complex individuals - I came up with the idea of launching this project.
I wanted to shift the focus from fictional stage fantasies to the overlooked real voices. So, together with my team, we conducted in-depth interviews with members of the blind community and edited these conversations into a documentary series called "Voices Unseen".
This documentary aims to go beyond superficial presentations and enable these people to speak for themselves, sharing their true life experiences, inner thoughts, and challenges they face.
Based on the "Voices Unseen" project which amplified the voices of marginalized groups, I designed a sign language teaching board game, aiming to introduce the basic sign language needed for communication with deaf and hearing-impaired individuals to the participants. This game does not view sign language as a series of isolated actions, but rather conceives it as a dynamic interactive tool to reduce communication barriers. I and my team held a public exhibition to showcase this board game and invited visitors from different backgrounds to participate in the game, learn, and re-think how we can establish connections with the deaf community. This project transformed accessible education into an accessible experience, encouraging the public to go beyond watching documentaries and cultivate greater empathy on a broader scale.
