These two pieces got into the Society of Illustrators 65 Exhibition under Editorial thanks to the jury of my peers. I haven't really entered into many competitions, so it was a really nice surprise to be recognized. Many thanks to my art directors Ed Johnson at Foreign Affairs and Claire Merchlinsky at The New York Times. The 1st one accompanied a piece by Jeff Yang about Asian American heroes in media representation, but for the main figure I made it a portrait of a family friend Yueh Chien, who went missing in the summer of 2021. As a way of processing her disappearance, I wanted everyone in the world to look at her face because at the time I felt like she wasn't being searched for hard enough. The 2nd one is for a book review centered around Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang, who was purged from power and public life because he was sympathetic to student protestors during the Tiananmen crisis. He served for 2 years as leader of the CCP and General Secretary and was succeeded by Jiang Zemin, who passed away today.

SOI New Visions podcast #2 up! Yao Xiao sat down and talked tech with Rebecca Mock, Kyle T. Webster, Leland Goodman, and Jensine Eckwall.  Queue it up while y’all are working today!

Yet again: it’s Society of Illustrators New Visions podcast time! We’re recording Episode #2 LIVE from the Society of Illustrators tonight at 7:30pm EST: http://mixlr.com/societyillustrators/ If you can’t catch it this evening, check the SOI Soundcloud! This time we’ll be talking about tech in illustration, and how it’s currently affecting the industry from Cintiqs to community. Yao Xiao is hosting Leland Goodman, Rebecca Mock, Jensine Eckwall, and Kyle Webster.  The Society of Illustrators New Visions Committee was organized to address a host of issues facing the contemporary illustrator; these include topics of diversity and inclusion, multiculturalism, and illustration’s role in a larger cultural context.  Get in touch with us! We’re constantly looking for new stories, voices, and content, and we want to involve you. The New Visions committee is: Jonathan Bartlett, Jensine Eckwall, Yao Xiao, Chris Kindred, and John Lee.

Hey, the first ever @societyillustrators New Visions podcast is online! Episode 1 deals with diversity in education, pedagogical issues, etc.! It’s hosted by yours truly, and features Annie Bowler, Aya Kakeda, Cynthia Cheng, and Marcos Chin. Organized by Jonathan Bartlett, Jensine Eckwall, Yao Xiao, and myself, with support from The Society of Illustrators.

I’m hosting a podcast tomorrow! At the Society of Illustrators! The first of its kind! The realest of its kind! Tune in, shout out! May 21, 2016 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. The Society of Illustrators New Visions Committee brings you a conversation addressing a host of issues facing the contemporary illustrator. These include topics of diversity and inclusion, multiculturalism, and illustration’s role in a larger cultural context. For the first podcast, panelists will discuss how these issues manifest themselves in education, and their specific experiences in (and outside of) the classroom. Featuring Aya Kakeda, Marcos Chin, Cynthia Cheng, and Annie Bowler. Moderated by: John Lee. Tune in to our station on Saturday, 1pm, to listen live!

The Stories Matter II: It’s Lit audio is up! Check it out in case you missed the stream. 

Some quick notes:

Stories Matter II (It’s Lit) was a success! We talked about as much as we could in the time that we had. Obviously there’s just so much ground to cover when it comes to multiculturalism, even in a narrowed field like illustration. It’s our hope that these discussions continue in all sections of the industry, from academia to art direction.  Big thanks to all the attendees, and everyone who was tuning in online, for being a part of the conversation. Also, huge thanks for submitting questions; I think there were great points hit in every single one. If you want to continue the dialog here, or with any of the panelists (in this panel or in the earlier one) I highly recommend that you reach out (this was a topic we covered!)  When the Society gets the audio online, I’ll post a link in case you missed the stream. Thanks to the Society of Illustrators, organizers Jensine Eckwall and Jonathan Bartlett, moderator Richie Pope, and panelists Cathy G Johnson, Alexandra Zsigmond, Odera Igbokwe, Yao Xiao, Ron Wimberly, and Shannon Wright. Photos via SOI, and Marc Scheff. 

Big news! On February 27th, I’m honored to be a part of the Stories Matter (part 2!) panel at the Society of Illustrators. The Stories Matter series is the brainchild of Jensine Eckwall and Jonathan Bartlett, who envisioned the forum as a way to discuss the role of illustration in a larger cultural context, tackling ideas such as representation, inclusion/exclusion within spaces in the industry, and the dangers of the singular story. The first panel (which you can listen to here) was a huge success-- it was standing room only, and had hundreds following the stream.  Richie Pope will be moderating the panel this time around, and I’ll be joined by these amazing people: Yao Xiao (who did the above comic), Alexandra Zsigmond, Cathy G Johnson, Odera Igbokwe, Ron Wimberly, and Shannon Wright. It is not lost on me that the Society, which, as an institution, largely functioned as a “good ole boy’s club” for much of its early existence, is now hosting diverse groups of current creators and curators to come and talk about their experiences. As our industry changes, and as the demographics of its practitioners change as well, we need spaces like this from which to say: we’re out here, and our stories matter. Again, the panel will be Saturday, February 27th at 1PM EST at the Society of Illustrators in New York. It will be live streamed, and you’ll be able to submit questions via the SOI twitter. Show up, speak out. 

Columbus Park with my friend Anna and future classmate Liam O'Donnell. Also, burlesque figure drawing at the Society of Illustrators with my buddy Gant Powell. 

Yesterday was chock full of awesomeness. Zoe, a friend from the KCAI days, smuggled me into Yuko Shimizu's sophomore Illustration Principles class and I got to join in on their critique. It's always interesting to see how other people and schools run critique and talk about work. Yuko was gracious, funny, and on point with her insight (as expected.) You SVA kids got it good. Zoe and I trekked through the rain and drew some at the Natural History Museum, before I went to go meet Derrick at the Society of Illustrators building. They have an awesome Harvey Kurtzman exhibit up now, in addition to their amazing permanent collection (including one of my favorite illustrations of all time by Coby Whitmore.) One thing I love about the SOI is that there is mind-blowing work EVERYWHERE. Like, there's literally a James Montgomery Flagg in the men's bathroom. 

Less impressive, although still amazing to me, is that my work is in the SOI store! The 52 Shades of Greed collaboration that I was a part of was chilling next to the entrance.  

Afterwards, we met up with my friend Zack at tumblr! Yes, the actual physical tumblr, nexus of all cat gifs. They've got a great space that is dog-friendly and has a large emphasis on food (which I can appreciate).  

Speaking of food, we did have Texas-style bbq later--which, as a Memphian, I was highly skeptical of. It was pretty good though, I'll admit. It'll take Congressional action for me to say it's better than Memphis-anything, but it was tasty. 

I'll be heading home soon, and can't wait to get back to work. This trip has been extremely beneficial to me in so many ways.