Tim Yip: In the Mirror Garden

A spectacular introduction to the work and the creative mind of the Oscar-winning Tim Yip, China’s leading art director for film and theatre.

Tim Yip is a world-renowned visual artist and art director for stage and film, and designer of fashion and costume. He achieved international fame for his work with film director Ang Lee on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction (becoming the first Chinese national to receive an Oscar) and the BAFTA for Best Costume Design. Yip’s signature aesthetic concept of ‘New Orientalism’ has confirmed him as one of those rare talents able to channel ancient and traditional cultures and reinterpret them in contemporary art and design for popular audiences.

Divided into three parts - ‘Context’, ‘Process’ and ‘Dialogues’ - this lavish book offers an accessible introduction to Yip’s work, career, cultural influences and creative processes. ‘Context’ gives an overview of Yip’s career, showcasing the highlights of his many collaborations as an Art Director. ‘Process’ dives into Tim’s working methods, exploring all his key projects, including the V&A’s Mirror Sky installation. ‘Dialogues’ includes the Butterfly Sky collaboration at the V&A’s China Galleries alongside the many other objects and ancient works that have so inspired Yip.

Edited by Mark Holborn, who has worked with Tim Yip for more than a decade, and including contributions from Anna Jackson and Tim Yip himself, this will be an essential publication both for those who are fans of Tim Yip’s oeuvre and for anyone with a passion for the visual art of China.