Yu-Mei Huang

Knitter

©Yahui Wnag

©April Chang

©Yu Mei Huang

Interactive sensory textiles

Yu-Mei explores interactive 3D textile
She blends unconventional materials to create innovative shapes and textures
She makes items for both exhibitions and fashion

Yu-Mei Huang is a Taiwanese-born, London-based textile artist focused on innovative knit design and practice. She operates across disciplines, interweaving different materials and crafts to examine tactility, the collective experience of space, cultural mobility, and displacement. Yu-Mei's work plays with information, the fabric of time, and our collective memory. Her pieces come alive and apart when we interact with and move around the material. From knitted garments and bags to cutting-edge fibre art and large-scale installations, experimentation is the lifeblood of her creative expression.

Interview

©Yu Mei Huang

Does your Taiwanese heritage come through in your practice?: My work reflects Taiwan's cultural heritage and history and is multicultural due to my experiences in different countries. It is important for me to look back to my background and understand craftsmanship to find an innovative way of demonstrating contemporary craft.
What is your method for experimenting with blending materials?: One of my focuses is experimenting with unconventional materials and combining craftsmanship in the making process. I knit with a domestic knitting machine, and by inlaying different materials while knitting, this technique connects yarns with other materials.
Do you distinguish between making installations, sculpting, and designing?: Not really; it depends on the concept and the project. As a textile artist, my main focus is on the fabrication process. Developing with material, shapes, and forms makes working on different presentation forms interesting.
How do you address sustainability in your work?: “Let the material lead the shape” is at the core of my practice. I want to explore the modalities and possibilities of textiles. My goal is to reveal that innovative approaches can push the boundaries of conventional systems and pave the way for new methods of sustainable textiles.

Yu-Mei Huang is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2015 and she started teaching in 2022