The Creative Mess that is Emma FYi Khoo: Photographer, Creator and Academic
Written by Yinsey wang
Photographs are courtesy of the Artist,Emma FYi Khoo. Instagram: @fyi.khoo and @fyi.photography
Artistic soul Emma or “FYi” Khoo has straddled many mediums, including modelling, makeup and photography. She also is an accomplished singer, is pursuing a PhD and has an architecture background. Proudly showcasing her culture, Emma’s content includes stories that she grew up with, including anime, Ancient Egypt, Greek myths to Chinese legends and novels Journey to the West and the Three Kingdoms. It is a privilege to learn more about Emma, as I am always impressed with her growth and adaptability. The icing on the cake is that I am always learning something new when she shares, a testament to the research she conducts in representing figures in her work from her heritage. She has brought to life characters from Legend of the White Snake and the Green Snake, as well as from influences in modern pop culture (Attack on Titan as an example), speaking directly to global Asian populations through her resonating artwork. It is an honour to interview Emma on her exploration of bold aesthetics and her rallying cry for better representation.
As a photographer, Emma notes that her heart “wanted more Asian representation in fashion” and her ideal aesthetic is “to cross high fashion, with my Asian experiences, with fantasy and digital art aesthetics, like Zhang Jingna and Chen Man”. She has in her portfolio, followed her mission of getting more Asian and in particular Malaysian models published in international magazines, “so it could remind viewers that there are multiple ways to see 'Asians'”. As Emma notes, “Asians are not a monolith. As a Malaysian-Chinese who studied the UK, it is especially frustrating when the all-so-notorious ‘you all look the same’ was said to my face a couple of times. I was even asked why I'd worked with so many Asian faces before”.
Emma’s creative work has various influences, but what has been central to Emma’s inspirations comprise certain key components. Those being the creative community online, her “not-so-secret” love for visual mediums, anime, comics, cartoons and film, as well as her love of narrative. In particular, when she was a child, she would invent her own original characters, draw manga, compose poetry and even make a picture-book. However, Emma reflects that “I didn't think all these would manifest in my current creative content, with my face as canvas”. Now, her platform has allowed her to display many new forms and perspectives. Showcasing lesser-known narratives online and through her pieces allows Emma to learn more about her background. As a Malaysian-Chinese, she admits “I'd only come to appreciate my ethnic Chinese culture and identity later on, when I studied in the UK. When my own identity, not British, neither seen as “really-Malaysian” nor “really-Chinese”, is challenged, I grew to love and embrace my own identity”. She thinks that part of it was “to accept the mess and use these unique experiences to create visual stories that others (like me) could also relate to”.
Years later, she can count her sponsored solo exhibitions (one joint and two solo) among her proudest achievements. The first exhibition Rojak, is a joint exhibition with two other reputable Malaysian photographers, that celebrates the diversity of Malaysian culture. Emma’s series “tries to showcase the various ethnicities in modern-traditional styling in the streets of Kuala Lumpur”. The second and third exhibitions were held at GMBB KL and University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) respectively. In addition, Coffee with Emma was a showcase of her favourite works and preview of new work commissioned by UNNC. She has also been featured on her university campus (her first overseas exhibition) where she is pursuing her PhD. Emma explains that “the series was an eclectic showcase of local and international students in modern-traditional Chinese outfits around and about the campus”. For Emma, “to be able to work with such a diverse group of people throughout my photography career, is truly one of my greatest joys”.
As an outlet, creativity is almost a form of therapy for Emma. She started photography a decade ago as a response to one of her lowest moments. Just before the pandemic, Emma was “in a rut”. She was readjusting to her PhD workload but photography felt uninspiring. During the global lockdown, she “finally got into a form of self-understanding” that whatever she creates, she creates with passion and she creates because she wants to. To Emma, “that meant working around the limitations that the pandemic had brought, and experimenting with new things”. Over the pandemic, Emma continued to up her game, being brought out of her comfort zone on a personal and also creative level. Her journey has been challenging, with unexpected twists and turns. The biggest lesson she has learned has been during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is in her words, a “simple but often forgotten piece of advice”. This is to “to remember to stay true to yourself and to remember why you create in the first place”. Although this may seem obvious at first, Emma notes that one’s sense of purpose may often be easily lost. Now, she has the realisation that she should create for herself and with a greater deference to mental health.
Equipped with an appreciation for “practice makes perfect”, Emma juggles her different roles with practical prowess. For the longest time, for Emma, setting goals and managing her hobbies helped create a balance with her desk-job and research work. Yet given the demands of the PhD life, she has embraced solo pieces, focusing on makeup and cosplaying content on Instagram and TikTok. This has allowed her make the most of her time and continue interacting with the world of creativity on her terms. What she settled on “was a mix between former fashion interests, love for editorial and avant-garde makeup, with digital art, anime and fantasy aesthetics”. For Emma, “to combine traits from each to shape my art, is interesting and also true to me. I was tempted to fall into one niche to grow my account but realised it didn't complete me. So I'd decided to let it go and just create stories that I wanted, and when I wanted”.
When asked about how Emma wishes to be remembered, she ponders that “I do like to be remembered for my original makeup and hybrid mix of editorial, fashion, cosplay and digital art. And perhaps, my flexibility. I can have clean editorial aesthetics, but I could also have dark or borderline digital art content. Some days I could cosplay as a Greek God, the next a Chinese deity, other days I could be in cosplay, or go simple for commercial work”. Emma wants to be chameleon storyteller, utilising her own cultural identity and experiences. She says “I choose to create unique content that feels true to me, without limitations or labels. Like my own cultural identity, I initially struggled to give myself a niche but I came to accept that my aesthetics cannot be given one label, e.g. I don't call myself a cosplayer per se because I do commercial work, glam, SFX too, vice versa. I accept that I am a creative mess”. I agree, and a wonderful note to end on, but would like to add that Emma is a rare, inspiring and magical creative mess.