Winner Spotlight｜Stephen Yip Yuk Fai’s “Heart Knot”: A Mixed-Media Reflection on Pressure, Healing, and Hidden Emotions

Stephen Yip Yuk Fai has been awarded the Silver Prize at the Future Art & Design Award UK 2025 Summer Season for his mixed-media painting Heart Knot, a profoundly personal piece that illuminates the quiet emotional burdens many people carry but seldom speak about.

To mark this meaningful achievement, Stephen also shared a heartwarming photograph of himself proudly holding the award trophy—a moment filled with gratitude, encouragement, and quiet triumph.

Stephen with FADA trophy

For Stephen, creativity has always been more than technical practice; it is a form of release, a spiritual refuge, and a place where emotions find shape. He began creating art simply because it brought him joy and helped him manage pressure in life. Over time, art became an emotional anchor—“a way of finding peace,” he says.

The inspiration for Heart Knot emerged not from a defined concept, but from a lingering feeling. A news story had struck him deeply: reports of young people ending their lives under immense academic and social stress. As a father of two—one of them a 15-year-old daughter navigating exam pressure—Stephen found himself reflecting on the silent weight young people carry. This quiet worry became the seed of his artwork.

Creating Heart Knot became his way of reminding himself to communicate more, to offer patience, and to give his daughter the care and emotional space she needs.

What makes Heart Knot compelling is the honesty behind its creation. Stephen describes the process as almost subconscious—his emotions surfaced on the canvas before he even understood what they were. Only after finishing the piece did he recognize how much his inner concerns and parental tenderness had guided his hand. “It was like my subconscious brought everything out without planning,” he recalls. “That realization was unexpectedly emotional for me.”

Stephen Yip Yuk Fai - Heart Knot

Through this work, Stephen hopes viewers will reflect on their own internal struggles. Everyone, he believes, carries knots—worries, fears, stress, things they cannot easily let go of. These knots do not make us weak; they make us human.

But he also emphasizes the importance of connection: talking to someone, listening attentively, paying attention to those around us, and seeking support when needed—whether from family, friends, or professionals. For Stephen, art becomes a bridge between silence and understanding.

His journey to the Future Art & Design Award UK began when his wife saw the competition on Facebook and encouraged him to participate. To his delight, the experience has been overwhelmingly positive. Receiving the Silver Prize brought joy not only to Stephen, but also to his entire family, who celebrated the recognition together.

Grateful for the opportunity, he expresses his hope that the Future Art & Design Award UK will continue to host more competitions, offering emerging artists and designers—like himself—a platform to share their work and voices.

With Heart Knot, Stephen Yip Yuk Fai transforms personal emotion into shared reflection. His work reminds us that behind every quiet struggle lies a story, a need for understanding, and the possibility of healing. And through art, even the tightest knots within the heart may gently begin to loosen.