Katy Wang

Not to be confused with Kate Wang.

Katy Wang
Born
Katy Jin Wang

February 1995 (age 30)
Alma mater
Websitekatywang.co.uk

Katy Wang (born 1995) is a British illustrator and animation director. She co-directed the Netflix series Headspace Guide to Meditation, illustrated Michael Zee's book Zao Fan (2024), and worked on the music videos for Toto Bona Lokua and Tom Rosenthal.

Her short film Mind the Gap (2015) won several festival awards and she was named It's Nice That's 2017 "Graduate of the Year". She was part of the team that produced the Ma Mama (2018) music video for the singer Jain, which won a Gold Kinsale Shark award, and she also co-produced the animated film, The Peace of Wild Things (2020) which won a Ron Kovic Peace Prize.

Early life and education

Katy Jin Wang was born in February 1995 and grew up in Oxfordshire, England.[1] She studied illustration and animation at Kingston School of Art.[2] During her studies, she created the short film Mind the Gap (2015), which screened at international festivals and won Best Experimental Animation at the Tofuzi Festival and Best Abstract Experimental Animation at the Tindirindis Festival.[3]

Wang graduated from Kingston School of Art with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2017. The same year, her graduation film Contact, was screened at a number of film festivals.[4][5] Wang was also named "Graduate of the Year" by the arts and design publication It's Nice That.[2]

Professional art career

In September 2017, Wang signed with Partizan production company.[6] Later in the year, she served on the animation team of the music video "Ma Mama" by the French group Toto Bona Lokua.[7] "Ma Mama" was nominated for Best Animation in a Video at the 2018 UK Music Video Awards.[8]

She also created a short animation to accompany Yrsa Daley-Ward's memoir The Terrible for Penguin Books.[9]

In 2018, Wang collaborated with musician Tom Rosenthal to animate the music videos for the songs "Forests"[10] and "Dinosaurs in Love" by Fenn Rosenthal.[11] That year, she also directed An Invisible Threat, a short film in collaboration with Girl Effect and Nutrition International.[12] In 2019, she joined the animation studio Blinkink as a director.[13]

Wang's style blends of analogue and digital media, often incorporating hand-painted textures, ink, and charcoal drawings into her digital animations.[14] Wang frequent collaborates with Gabriel Greenough.[15][16] Together, they have produced commercial projects for clients including Burberry, Epson and Rimowa. In 2021, Wang and Greenough directed the Netflix and Vox docuseries Headspace Guide to Meditation.[17]

In 2022, Wang was one of 40 artists to take part in an Instagram digital exhibition What Does Home Taste Like? highlighting relationship of food and identity in the Chinese diaspora.[18] In 2024, Wang illustrated Michael Zee's book Zao Fan (2024)[19] and contributed a section to Coldplay's video for "ALiEN HiTS / ALiEN RADiO".[20]

Teaching

Wang has been a visiting lecturer and guest speaker at a number of UK arts institutions, including Kingston School of Art, University of the Arts London, the University for the Creative Arts, Norwich University of the Arts, and the National Film and Television School.

Selected works

  • Mind the Gap (2015) – Student short film created at Kingston School of Art. Awarded at Tofuzi and Tindirindis Festivals.
  • Contact (2017) – Graduation film. Honoured by It's Nice That and won a Motion Award in the Student Group Project category.[2]
  • Ma Mama (2018) – Music video for the band Jain. It received a Vimeo Staff Pick, was nominated at the UK Music Video Awards, and won a Gold Kinsale Shark award.[8]
  • Outer Monologue (2019) – Short animated film featuring actress Joy Bryant.[21][22]
  • The Peace of Wild Things (2020) – An animated adaptation of a Wendell Berry poem, created with illustrator Charlotte Ager for the On Being Project. The film won the Ron Kovic Peace Prize.[23][24]
  • Headspace Guide to Meditation (2021) – Animated docuseries for Netflix. Wang is credited as a director.[17]
  • Epson Climate Reality Animation (2023) – A mixed-media animation co-directed with Gabriel Greenough, commissioned to visualise Gen Z's sentiments on climate change.[15]

References

  1. ^ "New Talent: Katy Wang". Little Black Book. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Brewer, Jenny. "Animator Katy Wang uses beautifully subtle texture and timing in her emotive films". It's Nice That. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  3. ^ "Katy Wang and Elisa Talentino - Womanimation! 2017 Participants". Spoiler Alert Radio. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  4. ^ "Katy Wang – Contact (2018)". Animators' Toolbar. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  5. ^ Amidi, Amid (31 July 2018). "Short Pick of the Day: 'Contact' by Katy Wang". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  6. ^ "Partizan Signs Katy Wang". Little Black Book. 20 September 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  7. ^ Knight, David (19 December 2017). "Toto Bono Lokua 'Ma Mama' by Katy Wang". Promonews. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  8. ^ a b "UK Music Video Awards 2018: the Technical Achievement nominations in full". Promonews. 18 October 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  9. ^ Brewer, Jenny (1 June 2018). "Penguin releases animated trailer by Katy Wang for Yrsa Daley-Ward's memoir, The Terrible". It's Nice That. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Katy Wang's Tom Rosenthal Video is Cute and Wobbly". Little Black Book. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  11. ^ Ebert~date=6 February 2020, Grace (6 February 2020). "A New Film in Pastel Animates the Viral Tragicomedy Tune 'Dinosaurs in Love'". Colossal. Retrieved 13 August 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ "Katy Wang Directs 'An Invisible Threat' Animation for Girl Effect and Nutrition International". Little Black Book. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  13. ^ Mitchell, Ben (27 June 2019). "Katy Wang joins Blinkink's director roster". SK Wigly. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  14. ^ "Katy Wang on playful storytelling and fruitful partnerships". Creative Review. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  15. ^ a b Hingley, Olivia (26 February 2024). ""A mix of hope and fear": Katy Wang and Gabriel Greenough animate Gen Z's feelings toward climate change". It's Nice That. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  16. ^ "Meet the Artist: Katy Wang". Girls Club Asia. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  17. ^ a b Brewer, Jenny. "And breeaaathe: the animation supergroup creating meditation TV for Netflix's Headspace". It's Nice That. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  18. ^ Gorney, Liz (25 January 2022). "40 artists including Yuk Fun and Katy Wang illustrate what home tastes like for #ChineseFoodiesofIG exhibition". It's Nice That. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  19. ^ Brehaut, Laura (24 May 2024). "Cook This: 3 Chinese breakfast recipes from Zao Fan, including hand-pulled noodles". National Post. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  20. ^ "How 27 filmmakers came together to make Coldplay's epic, sprawling video for 🌈 (Alien Hits/Alien Radio)". It's Nice That. 22 January 2025. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  21. ^ Ong, Jynann. "Katy Wang – Outer Monologues for Mailchimp". It's Nice That. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  22. ^ ""Outer Monologue: Joy Bryant" by Katy Wang". Stashmedia TV. 4 September 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  23. ^ Bennett, Harry. "Turbulence, tranquility and teamwork: Katy Wang and Charlotte Ager create a serene animated collaboration". It's Nice That. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  24. ^ "2020 IFF Ron Kovic Peace Prize". My Hero. 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
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