In honour of this year’s Pride season, we engaged local animator and illustrator, Sitji Chou, to capture the colour, joy and resilience of the 2SLGBTQAI+ community. Since receiving his BMA in Animation from Emily Carr in 2011, Chou’s work in the creative realm has spanned over a decade, combining his proficiency in design, 2-D animation, After Effects compositing, and illustration. Now, Chou can be found happily working for the Emmy-award-winning creative studio, Giant Ant.
Chou graciously invited rennie into his personal home and studio in New Westminster for a candid conversation on how his identity resonates from his work, the influences that have shaped his signature style, his connection as a queer artist to Pride, and what he hopes people will feel when they see his work.
An original work for rennie’s artist program evoking the diversity, resilience, and joy of the LGBTQ+ community
Starting out as a creative, what was it about animation that made you realize it was the art form you wanted to pursue?
To me, there was something very different about animation than just illustrating. The moment you make something move– when you can make the wind blow, or have a figure turn around and say something– it instantly feels more alive than anything I could have illustrated. I realized I loved it from my first animation and I've been doing it ever since. It's such a joy.
When people see your work, how do you hope it will resonate?
I hope people feel a sense of joy. That feeling - a lot of times - can be very difficult to achieve or evoke through art. There are just so many things in the world that can be not joyful, and I think of my work as a reprieve from that.
What is the inspiration behind your featured work for our artist program and its relationship to pride?
I try to imbue every piece I create with joy and colour. As a queer artist, joy and colour are aspects that feel close to my identity. The connection between Pride and the featured art piece is the emotion of it. The feeling it emotes is joyful, energetic, and celebratory. Those are things that align so beautifully with Pride.
As we approach Vancouver’s annual Pride celebration, can you share what pride means to you?
Pride is a reminder of the people and community who have supported and fought for us, and to remember their sacrifices. Even within Canada, it has become a more accepting and open nation where we are free to be unapologetically ourselves. Pride is making sure that we pass that progress forward, to continue fighting for those who need to be fought for, and ensure we always strive for equality. These are the primary tenets of Pride and it deserves to be acknowledged and celebrated.
How does your identity as a queer artist present itself in your work?
My identity shows up in ways that can seem quite obvious just based on the subject matter – I draw a lot of drag queens. I love to imbue playfulness, colour and joy into my work, and those things align really well with my identity as a queer artist and are emblematic of the community. 
Chou at work in his home studio
Can you tell us about some of your major influences?
I have several influences, some more strange than others. One is an Estonian animator Priit Pärn, he was a major figurehead in independent animation, and the storytelling is unparalleled. A more contemporary influence is one of my favourite animated movies, Mind Game from Studio 4°C directed by Masaaki Yuasa. It was a huge inspiration to me because of the way the figures moved, the way they were designed, and the type of story being told felt very open; not tethered by anatomy or even regular colours. I felt like I could play around with this approach to animation.
When do you feel most inspired – can you tell when it's happening?
When I am working on personal pieces, inspiration can happen very quickly. Whenever I'm struck by this lightning bolt of inspiration, I have to act on it. When I watched Black is King, I was immediately provoked by how beautiful and wonderful it was. When I see something that gives me an emotional reaction, it serves as a huge motivating force for me to create art out of it.
Chou’s created this animation after being inspired by 2020 musical film, Black is King, directed by Beyonce
It's hard to know when you make something whether or not it's the right idea. Oftentimes, it's only in the middle of creating something that it becomes clear that the translation of what you are imagining is coming through your hands.
One of Chou’s early works from Emily Carr sparked his drive to pursue animation
We would like to extend a warm thank you again to Sitji Chou for donating his time, talent and thoughts in celebration of Pride. You can see more of Sitji’s animation and illustrations via his Instagram at @sitjichou. In honour of Pride Month, the rennie foundation has a donation of $5,000 to Qmunity, BC’s queer, trans, and two-spirit resource centre, as well as A Loving Spoonful, a non-profit that provides free, nutritious meals to people living with HIV and coexisting illness in Metro Vancouver.
