artist biography
yue (月) artist biography, journey, and background
yue (月) (they/them) is a non-binary (i.e., agender), queer (i.e., on the aromantic and asexual spectrums) creative focusing on multimedia, conceptual art. current mediums of focus include writing, fashion, music, photography, video, graphic design, etc. as such, they are also an aspiring writer, model, musician, photographer, etc. 月 believes in the ideal of becoming a renaissance “man”/polymath/multi-hyphenate.
月 draws inspiration from traditional academic subjects (notably philosophy, psychology, and religion), literature, music, fashion, art museums, and cultural exchange. but arguably more importantly, 月’s art is grounded in their lived experiences and coming of age (both literally and spiritually).
月 credits a semester abroad in paris, france as the most transformative four months of their life (at least thus far), which unlocked a latent deep motivation to become a creative and lead a so-called “unconventional” life.
they were always drawn to the arts, but while in paris, 月 began engaging more deeply with art through an art history class, visiting countless art museums and historical sites, and attending several concerts and other live performance events.
in particular, one photography exhibit sparked a total paradigm shift in 月’s understanding of art. up until that point, they mostly appreciated art for its aesthetic qualities/value; but, they felt increasingly drawn to using art as a medium for conveying deeper messages.
said exhibit demonstrated several features that 月 wants to integrate in their artistic approach—(an oxymoronic) controlled spontaneity, cultural sensitivity, social commentary, and deep contemplation. additionally, they love surrealism, absurdism, intercultural dialogue, and the integration of seemingly contrasting and opposing concepts; as such, 月 will apply these ideas in their creative process and the resulting finished works.
月 took the leap to start earnestly creating and sharing art after a spiritual awakening (i.e., kenshō ( 見性 ) / satori ( 悟り )) that began at the very end of november 2025. this experience was first confirmed by a head teacher of the buddhist community (i.e., sangha) that 月 belongs to. said teacher is an ordained buddhist priest with over 20+ years of experience and a professional background in applying mindfulness in clinical settings. two other buddhist teachers/leaders that 月 works with later also validated this spiritual awakening, including a former professor of theirs.
月 is an active buddhist practicing primarily in the korean and japanese zen traditions. 月’s first formal exposure to zen buddhism was through a zen literature class taken in the spring of 2022 while in college. although their interest in zen lay mostly dormant for a few years after taking the class, 月 had a spiritual experience while studying abroad in paris in the spring of 2024.
月 formally started practicing zen buddhism by joining an online/hybrid buddhist sangha in march 2025 and immersing themself in the meditation practice. from there, 月 branched out to other zen centers/sanghas in the korean and japanese traditions located in the greater boston area.
growing up, 月 always felt (deep down) like a misfit. they struggled to comprehend portrayals of romantic/sexual attraction in media as well as their peers’ thoughts on and experiences with (romantic) love, which eventually led to a questioning of their gender.
although 月 realized they were on the aromantic and asexual spectrums in their senior year of high school, they did not feel comfortable coming out until now because they perceived themself as not “queer enough” due to being “straight-passing”.
upon entering college, 月 began experimenting with their appearance and gender expression, which roused some uncertainty about their gender identity as a cisgender man (at the time). while this uncertainty retreated for the most part for the next few years, in 2025, they began reexamining their gender identity.
月 realized that identifying as non-binary (agender) gave them a newfound sense of confidence and, in turn, a more accurate sense of self. in coming to terms with their agender identity, 月 finally feels empowered to come out publicly and more openly discuss their queerness (i.e., these “new” identities).
this confusion around their gender and romantic/sexual identities was, in large part, because of trauma stemming from negative experiences with cisgender, heterosexual women—“romantic” encounters (i.e., coerced consent and harassment), perceived “close friendships” (i.e., situationships where 月 didn’t reciprocate feelings and expressed such but mistakenly believed a purely platonic relationship could be formed instead...), and full-on romantic relationships. most, if not all, of these experiences were with slightly older, generally emotionally unavailable (and frankly, sometimes dysfunctional) cis-het women.
although their romantic relationships did not pan out particularly well, 月 recognizes that they were only able to fully realize their non-binary, queer identity because said relationships developed and, ultimately, ended.
月 repressed the majority of this trauma stemming from their romantic experiences and did not fully reach these conclusions until december 2025, in line with their spiritual awakening.
月 first started struggling with their mental health when they began their sophomore year of high school; they were only 15 at the time. they have lived with some form of depression since then, although it has morphed in its presentation throughout the years.
fortunately, due to their spiritual awakening and realizing the full extent of the previously mentioned trauma, 月 is much more mentally grounded and expects their mental health condition to continue improving moving forward.
knowing firsthand the importance of mental wellbeing, 月is a mental health advocate within their community and the organizations they belong to. they have and will continue to serve as a volunteer youth board member for a national mental health nonprofit, where they previously interned.
regarding their creative practice, 月 plans to channel their years of mental anguish (and its associated strong emotions) into art that is poetic, thought-provoking, and soul-stirring.
in understanding all these recent realizations in their life, 月 reached the following conclusion—everyone in this world deserves loving-kindness (i.e., metta) and compassion (i.e., karuna), but no one is entitled to anyone’s friendliness, goodwill, and positive energy.
月 loves cultural exchange, its resulting contrasts and disagreements, and the integration of different, seemingly incompatible values to resolve said disagreements. in 2024, during their study abroad semester in paris, 月 came to the realization that they are emotionally, mentally, and spiritually a third (or even n-th) culture kid at heart.
月 believes that learning and earnestly engaging with different cultures empowers one to consciously choose what cultural elements they most align with—creating an eclectic blend of values that best represents oneself.
as such, 月 loves language learning. they are conversationally fluent in french and working towards native fluency. as a chinese-american, 月 would love to learn their heritage languages of mandarin chinese and shanghainese more deeply. they have also learned some elementary korean and would like to continue learning the language. 月 is also considering learning japanese, greek, and/or spanish in the future. in essence, 月 would love to be a practicing polyglot and global citizen.
月 cites In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust; The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; 1Q84, The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, and Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami; Blonote and Pieces of You by Tablo; and the poetry of Bashō and other zen buddhist poets as relevant literary works in understanding and making sense of their life (and its past, present, and future).
月 identifies with Jirachi (Pokémon) as well as Luffy (One Piece) as pop culture icons that represent their non-binary, queer identity. additionally, 月 credits Kirito (Sword Art Online), Kurapika and Chrollo (Hunter x Hunter), and Alucard and Isaac (Castlevania) as characters who spurred this growth into their full, authentic self. 月 draws aesthetic inspiration from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and queer/queer-coded women artists and girl groups with strong visual styles/concepts (i.e., f5ve, XG, The Deep, etc.).
月 believes that everyone can gain some valuable insight from the dharma (i.e., buddhist teachings/wisdom), whether you are buddhist or not. this is primarily because they believe it is the faith most compatible with other academic/intellectual subjects and other religious traditions.
月 believes that there are more similarities than differences between us all. they find comfort in the belief that earth and its people are one big community (sangha).
for the longest time, 月 has experienced short glimpses of future events in their dreams. these have become more frequent and stronger recently. while these glimpses have been mainly single, tiny moments grounded in reality (e.g., a view out of a car window), since this spiritual awakening, some are now longer in duration and more metaphorical in nature.
月 hopes and believes that, by learning about each other’s experiences, they can exchange a little wisdom with each and every person they encounter. ultimately, 月 has a conviction for unapologetic self-expression, self-love, radical compassion/empathy, and purposeful living.
月 is a 22-year-old undergraduate student at boston college studying marketing but decided to take an indefinite leave of absence in december 2025. moving forward, 月 plans to continue balancing their creative endeavors with intensive buddhist practice as a life-long pursuit.
月 likes to write in lower case since it seems approachable and understated (and also to subvert traditional rules around writing). not capitalizing their name when written in english as “yue” also conveys a lack of ego and quiet confidence surrounding their identity. 月 likes to drop “i”s and get straight to the action (i.e., verbs).
in the spirit of being self-aware, 月 finds it amusing and ironic that they have written this artist statement in the third person when people referring to themselves in that way was (and probably still is) a pet peeve of theirs.
there is still much for the world to learn about 月 and for 月 to learn about the world.