[1] He is known for his portraits that are "never purely figurative, but position characters as richly complex ciphers",[2] engaging with the “subterranean semiotics” of his communities.
[5][6] His burgeoning interest in drawing started with Pokémon fan art and browsing the pages of DeviantArt and Tumblr.
In 2021, yi Hou graduated from Columbia University in New York City with a bachelor's degree in visual arts.
[14] yi Hou's works has been described as "deeply citational, resulting in densely layered compositions that brim with imagery,"[2] featuring "semiotic constellations"[15] of hieroglyphs, such as cranes, dragons, leather chaps, the yin and yang symbol, the American flag, glory holes, Western cowboy hats, and spurs, all as stand-ins for the artist and his immediate world.
"[7][17][19] yi Hou is inspired by the filmmaker Trinh T. Minh Ha, philosopher Édouard Glissant, scholar Gayatri Spivak, and political theorist Achille Mbembe, as well as painters Alice Neel and Martin Wong.