Lulu Lin's drawings and sculptures explore the role of 3D technology in design

Since we last wrote about illustrator Lulu Lin her style has changed drastically from her previously vibrant drawings of exclusively female characters. “I drew this new colourless series when I was going through a difficult time… I started to draw more gender neutral faces,” she explains of her new illustrative direction. “I wanted to de-associate a little with gender-specific images and take a step back to look at myself more objectively.”

The new drawings, though different in style and colour palette – they’re now largely monochromatic – maintain Lulu’s trademark humour, with exaggerated features, squashed faces and comical expressions. She says the “tough and indifferent colours and gestures, coupled with the confused and blank looks” were conceived through introspection. “These recent drawings are more self-reflecting than before,” Lulu tells It’s Nice That.

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Lulu has since moved to Denmark to attend Design School Kolding, where she is currently pursuing a master’s degree in communication design. This new work is for one of her course projects titled Analog Replication as Basis to Defy 3D Fabrication. It consists of a number of plasticine, super sculpey, silicon rubber, plaster, soy wax and beeswax head sculptures, as well as 14 digital iPad drawings.

The aim of the project is to study the purpose and role of 3D technology in design. According to the artist’s statement, the project asks the question: “3D technology is a tool to let us be productive and creative, but has the new era of technology also insensibly stopped designers from trying different ways of making?”

In order to explore this subject, Lulu utilised the materials above and techniques such as sculpting, casting and drawing to mimic the idea of 3D modelling, rendering and animating. “The sculptures are then juxtaposed with 3D illustrations and printed objects of the same subject to leave an open discussion of the usage of 3D technology,” Lulu explains.