Gao Yuan was born in Kunming, Yunnan, China 1986. In 2009, Gao received her BA degree from the Communication University of China in Animation Arts (Beijing, China). Gao Yuan's solo exhibition "Gao Yuan: Eternal Return" was presented at Capsule Shanghai in 2017. Gao has participated in exhibitions such as 'Pity Party' curated by Yang Zi (New York, USA, 2018), 'M+ Screenings: City Limits' (Hong Kong, 2017), 'You Won't Be Young Forever' curated by Biljana Ciric (Shanghai, China, 2016), 'Secret Love' (Stockholm, Sweden, 2012), and 'Get it Louder' (Beijing, China, 2010).

Gao Yuan's animations have been selected by major film festivals including "Vancouver International Film Festival" (2017) "Hong Kong International Film Festival" (2018 & 2017), "International Film Festival Rotterdam" (2017), "International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film" (2016), "Beijing College Student Film Festival" (2010) and "The 2nd China Queer Film Festival Tour" (2009).

The script of Cloud of the Unknown received the 'Script and Project Development: Bright Future' grant from the Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) of International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) in 2019. Gao Yuan's animation piece Lunar Dial realized over a time of six years (2010 - 2016) was nominated as 'Tiger Awards for Short Films' at "International Film Festival Rotterdam" (2017), and received a Special Mention of the Jury at "CutOut Fest International Animation and Digital Art Festival" (2016).

Her work is featured in the collection of M+ Museum, Hong Kong, Sunpride Foundation, Hong Kong and the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection.