Article by Alison Ng
The Barefoot Artist is a wonderful documentary that parallels the love of art with the love for family.
The documentary focuses on the artist Lily Yeh, the leader of Barefoot Artists, a volunteer organization that brings art to impoverished communities through various projects. The Barefoot Artist not only details Yeh’s art projects in towns around the world in order to heal spirits, it also explores her journey in finding the strength to mend her damaged family. Although the film is short, both storylines carefully interweave to show the audience that Yeh is the person she is today as a result of life’s circumstances.
The feature combines and showcases different people from different cultures. While Yeh is Chinese, The Barefoot Artist expresses the fact that art impacts all individuals and brings communities together.
Yeh herself is very interesting to listen to and learn about. Throughout the film, the audience is reminded that she is American as much as she is Chinese, with the subtle transitions between English and Chinese near the end. The audience is exposed to an inspiring individual and a moving story. In the end, The Barefoot Artist is a nice documentary to watch if one is interested in learning about a great person and artist.
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