Chief Change Officer
#200 May Yeung: Art, Advocacy, and a Toddler Takeover in Hong Kong
Tue, 25 Feb 2025
For the first time ever, my podcast comes full circle—finally featuring a guest from my home city, Hong Kong! Meet May Yeung: teaching artist, founder of the charity Art of My Family, cancer survivor, and proud mom of an energetic 14-month-old. While Hong Kong is famous for finance, May proves art can be just as powerful—reshaping lives, advocating for mental health, and championing sustainability. And as a bonus, our youngest guest yet (her toddler!) makes an appearance. Stay tuned for a heartwarming and paint-splattered conversation!Key Highlights of Our Interview:3:17—From Wall Scribbles to Ceramics: A Childhood Steeped in Art“From the time I was around two years old, I would draw on walls before I could even write my name. By five, my father and I were creating ceramics together. At age 12, my fascination with dadaism and pop art gave me the conviction to become an artist.”"I met Professor Jeff Oppenheimer who gave a lecture on integrating art into daily life, and daily life into art, and the contents of this lecture really helped to form the framework and direction of my art to this day."6:00—Where Art Meets Music: How Music Has Influenced Her Art Creation 8:41—From Crunching Numbers to Crafting Impact: How Finance Led May to Art and Social Change11:20—Faith Over Fear: How Battling Cancer Transformed a Perfectionist into a Celebrator of Life’s Small Wins"I think the cancer experience really let me feel a greater sense of conviction to serve the underprivileged"16:25—Art for Archer: How Motherhood and Heritage Shape Her Creations18:09—Dim Sum and Chinese Checkers: Weaving Hong Kong’s Culture into Every Piece of Art21:34—Memorable Art Pieces “What If” and “Blossom Love”: Sculpting Bridges Between Cultures and Endless Possibilities23:19—From Corporate CSR to Creative Compassion: The Birth of Art of My Family30:00—May’s Life Mission to Inspire the Next Generation: The Three C’s of Art Education and the Role of a Teaching Artist______________________Connect with us:Host: Vince Chan | Guest: May Yeung______________________--**Chief Change Officer**--Change Ambitiously. Outgrow Yourself.Open a World of Deep Human Intelligence for Growth Progressives, Visionary Underdogs,Transformation Gurus & Bold Hearts.6 Million+ All-Time Downloads.Reaching 80+ Countries Daily.Global Top 3% Podcast.Top 10 US Business.Top 1 US Careers.100,000+ subscribers are outgrowing. Act Today. --Chief Change Officer--Change Ambitiously. Outgrow Yourself.Open a World of Expansive Human Intelligencefor Transformation Gurus, Black Sheep,Unsung Visionaries & Bold Hearts.12 Million+ All-Time Downloads.Reaching 80+ Countries Daily.Global Top 3% Podcast.Top 10 US Business.Top 1 US Careers.>>>140,000+ are outgrowing. Act Today.<<<
Chapter 1: Who is May Yeung and what is her mission?
Yet so far, I haven't interviewed any guests from right here in Hong Kong. Today, that changes. I'm excited to bring a local guest to the studio, May Yeung, founder of the charity Art of My Family, a teaching artist, a cancer survivor, a mother to a really cute boy, and the wife of another Vince, who happens to be a good friend of mine. May has experienced many life changes over the years.
She's determined to use the power of art in her own way to change lives and create an environmentally sustainable, mentally healthy, and socially inclusive society here in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is not just about business, finance and money. May has chosen a different path to do well and to do good. And as a side note, we've got our youngest guest ever, May's 11-month-old son joining us on the show.
So don't go away.
Hi, everyone. My name is Mei. I'm a teaching artist and while I'm a doctor, I'm also the founder of Art of My Family, a charity dedicated to organize community art events with sustainability elements.
Mei is a teaching artist. What is a teaching artist, you may wonder? And how does she develop her artistic journey? But before we do a deep dive, let us start with May's history. May, give us an overview of your history, your education, your life experiences, just to give us some perspective. Then we will explore different elements of your journey in the later part of our show.
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Chapter 2: How did May's childhood influence her art career?
Sure. Growing up, I've always really enjoyed art more than anything else. And much some kids prefer playing sports, art really came naturally to me. So from the time I was around two years old, I would draw on walls before I could even write my name. And art was one of the ways my parents and I bonded. So when I was three, my mother taught me how to sew origami.
And by five years old, my father and I were creating ceramics together. At age 12, my positive experiences with arts from my childhood really gave me the conviction to become an artist, during which I had a fascination with Dadaism and pop art. And I eventually went to the University of Chicago to study arts.
This is where I met Professor Jeff Oppenheimer, who gave a lecture on integrating art into daily life and daily life into art. And the contents of this lecture really helped form the framework and direction of my art to this day, and also were one of the major factors in my decision to become a sculptor specializing in pop art and large installations for public spaces.
You went to the University of Chicago to study visual art, along with another interest of yours, political science. I happen to know a lot of people from Hong Kong and China, including myself, who attempt the University of Chicago to study economics, business, mathematics, or physics. Yet, even at your young age, you purposely chose art as your major. Tell us more about the why.
Chapter 3: Why did May choose to study art over other disciplines?
Why at that age you decided to pursue art as your major? Why you wanted to get serious about this field of study rather than just keeping it as a hobby or as an interest?
For me, art is a way of self-expression as well as a way of communication with others. And I think the power of art is that even for words that cannot be expressed, it can be experienced through art. And I think, as I mentioned earlier, Professor Jeff Obertheimer, actually, as well as Professor Laura Lipsinski, both of them play a very important role in my artistic career.
They really encouraged me to jump outside of the box and incorporate some of the daily life materials into my artwork and that's also my philosophy as an artist too.
You've mentioned to me before that music has had a significant influence on your journey as an artist. Can you share more about how music plays a role in your art world?
Chapter 4: How does music influence May Yeung's art?
Yeah, sure. Besides art, I also received a musical education from a very young age, receiving tutelage from Hong Kong conductor Mr. Jimmy Chan and the late Mr. Dai Si Chong, who actually taught a lot of famous singers in Hong Kong, including Andy Lau and all those other singers.
And I was also taught piano by a Chinese pianist, Mao Zedong, and very luckily became the distinguished winner of the Sueder Hong Kong Youth Piano Competition. So I actually used a lot of my dramatic experiences to create sculptures and direct dance and musical performances that amplified some hints of each other.
And when I first returned to Hong Kong in 2015, I served as the visual arts director and showcased my sculpture, Kukun, using textiles at the residence of the Netherlands Council General to Hong Kong, Macau, for a experimental performance.
And even later until in 2018, for the French May Art Festival, I directed the L'Opening Nec-Mectre Interpretive Dance and Music Performance, where I fused Chinese and French musical instruments and facilitated collaboration between the artists. And so I'm very excited about the upcoming show, which is the Discovery Art Fair in Frankfurt. I will present my artwork called Musical Xanthus.
It is actually an artwork, a series of sculpted vases in the form of a musical rest in a garden of sprouting daisies.
and I will actually hand-painted them and the artwork is really aimed to calm the mind and encouraging the viewers to actually withdraw themselves from the bustling city lives to relax, to enlarge, to recharge and to reflect and the reason why I actually chose musical rest is because I believe that the absence of sound
in a musical score actually provides dynamics, builds tension, and actually maintain the rhythm, even change the tempo of the theme. And I really hope that as music is everywhere, and I really want that through art and music, which are both universal language, to actually have to cross beyond borders and cultures.
In your career so far, you've explored various areas of art, like music, sculpture, and painting. But you've also spent a good amount of time in the corporate world, including investment banking and working for a tech company in the CSR or ESG space.
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Chapter 5: What led May to transition from finance to art?
What were your thoughts back then about gaining this so-called standard commercial and business experience while still pursuing your artistic ambitions?
My transition from finance to startup and then to art was a kind of gradual realization of my calling in life and what I really wanted to do through my career. And earlier you mentioned I worked in finance. I was an analyst at Goldman in the US and back then I had the opportunity to work on the CSR initiative and the experience really impacted me.
Specifically, the community team works, which provided relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Sandy. And so I actually, at that time, I helped organizing community art events and it became a really fond memory for me and inspired me to shift my career towards focusing and making a positive social impact.
Coming back to Hong Kong, I then joined the founding team of the Liberal Hong Kong Office as the Social Responsibility Lead. food recovery programs um and uh providing meal free meals for the community and so seeing the potential for corporations to support their communities really solidified my desire to use my abilities to benefit those in need
And all these experience and also with personal help challenge that's actually led me back to my original passion for art as a pop art sculptor and also the founder of the charity Art of My Family. I now really delegate work. dedicate my career to bring creative opportunities to underprivileged youth in Hong Kong, sticking the values of ART art, which is affirmation, resilience, and faithfulness.
So today I look back at my career transitions and I realized that the nature of my various roles, be it finance, be it startup, it was really my calling to do social work. And the spirit of perseverance I gradually developed through these appearances is really what shaped me who I am today.
Speaking of perseverance, I can't help but ask about a significant aspect of your personal life. You shared in other media interviews that you were diagnosed with cancer at a young age and battled the illness for a considerable time. Could you share how this experience transformed or impacted you? Did it make you a more empathetic or artistic person? Or perhaps it had a different effect?
How does this health and personal experience shape your journey? I think our listeners would really appreciate hearing about the life lessons you've learned from this challenging time.
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Chapter 6: How did battling cancer change May's perspective?
Sure. So before my cancer, I was wrapped in my own cocoon. And growing up, I was a relentlessly perfectionist. So I set very high standards for myself. I was very critical of myself, of everything from work to daily life. And back then, I micromanaged all the operations of my design company, Art and Love, and also my charity, Art of My Family.
I think my cancer, my fight with cancer really gave me a new perspective on life. I transformed into someone who really placed emphasis on faith. And when I say faith, I would say F really stands for having faith in myself. Instead of challenging what I do all the time, I actually embrace it and have confidence in myself. And A, it's feeling alive and celebrating small things in life and
It's not easy to be a sculptor. A lot of times things are being affected by the temperature, things are affected by the humidity. But celebrate the small things in life and you'll become a happier artist. I is creating impact on society by making a difference one step at a time. That's also my mission no matter as a sculptor or as a community artist.
And T is really touching lives and hearts by helping people around me. And so really happy to have set up Art of My Family to achieve that. And H, taking better care of my mental and physical health, as well as actually helping the mental wellness of people around me as well.
So I think the CAMTA experience really let me feel a greater sense of conviction to serve the underprivileged, whether through events such as French May, Fel de Molde, Panda Workshops, to Mother Nature and Next Generation Exhibitions.
A near-death experience gives you a new perspective on life. While that experience is full of suffering, and we don't try to glorify it, it can also lead to personal growth. You came out of it as a better person, someone who embraces life more fully and finds greater happiness. And speaking of life, I know that in recent years, you started a new chapter.
You got married to another Vince, who's also a friend of mine from the University of Chicago. And you have a son, a new life that you are nurturing. How is modelhood treating you so far? How has this experience, along with other major live events, impacted your perspective as an artist and in helping your communities?
Just give me one moment. Archer is coming over soon.
I would like to carry him as I'm answering this question. So please help me. Oh, he's sleepy.
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Chapter 7: What impact has motherhood had on May's art?
And I think the art and the joy of creating is an expression of inter-generation care, both for Archer and also for the other youths who needed the most in my community. So one of the pieces actually, Vince, you saw in person at League of Faith was an art piece I created for a Mother Nature Next Generation exhibition.
With me trying to express the excitement and the joy of watching life grow into something wonderful, perhaps something very small. The bamboo steamer used in League of Faith, which is the largest handmade bamboo steamer ever made in Hong Kong. is a piece of cultural heritage that represents all the things I really enjoyed growing up that I wish to pass on to next generations.
Actually, on a side note, why I decided to name him Chagall is because I really hope that he could aspire to be like the artist Mark Chagall, who is basically a very innovative, innovative person who also went through a lot of challenges in life, but she still managed to get to become one of the most celebrated artists in the history of art.
What were some of the things you enjoyed growing up in Hong Kong? Can you share more about activities or experiences that were particularly meaningful to you during that time?
Yeah, sure. One of the motifs that I have in my artwork is definitely Hong Kong's culture. And when we talk about Hong Kong's culture, it's not only being selling boat and all those things, but it's really little things, little precious moments in daily life. So it can be a dumb song. It can be Chinese checkers and all those things.
And that's why I actually incorporated Dim Sum Steamer and French Made Art Festival Savannah Exhibition back in 2017, as well as Mother Nature and Next Generation Exhibition. I think Dim Sum, this intangible cultural heritage, is something that is really worth talking to people and actually people from all over the world to treasure.
And Chinese checkers and even ping pong balls are things that I really love playing as a little girl. And so that's something that I, it's really fun to actually see them shy in my artwork.
I remember that I actually took a photo with that piece and Vince, your husband, explained the significance of that dim sum container to me. Since Vince's family is in the restaurant business, he shared how dim sum plays a major role in Hong Kong's dining culture and overall culture.
That really big dim sum container, especially made, as far as I know, was something you turned into a piece of art.
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