Unknow
My contribution to ILLOZINE 19, Into the Unknown, published in January 2017. I barely draw snakes because I have a strong fear of legless creatures but I think I made some significant progress after this piece!
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Four spots I did for MovieMaker Magazine’s complete guide to making movies. Art Directed by Kelly Leow.
#1: The “proper” way to take a Hollywood meeting
#2: How to run an audition and secure casting
#3: Video on Demand distribution
#4 didn’t get to be used but I personally really like this one. Every freelancer has been there!
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Listen to Me
A piece about overcoming your inner fears and listen to your true voice. This piece is a selected winner from Latin American Ilustracion 5 and is included in the printed annual.
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An ongoing project I was thinking about– a series of portraits that looks like studio head shots.
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The New Republic - Girls Just Wanna be Heard
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A piece for The New Republic May ‘16 issue, Elspeth Reeve’s review of Nancy Jo Sales’ book American Girls. Art directed by the wonderful Parker Hubbard. (The second image is an unused version.)
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A poster I illustrated and designed for Anthony Apruzzese’s comedy show at UCB theater early this year. Glad to have this opportunity to draw a cat, since I’m a dog person so I usually draw more dogs. Thanks Ant!
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Pollen - Meet Bo
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Very happy to have this chance to work on this meaningful project with Pollen, a series of illustrations about Bo Thao-Urabe, a community organizer and an activist. Story written by Kari Mugo, art directed by Meghan Murphy.
#1: Bo and her family moved to Chicago from a Thai Refugee camp after the Vietnam War. This illustration of little Bo walking on a rose coming out from a gun is inspired by the Flower Power movement at that time. Also I’m very drawn into south Asian people’s respect to nature because of Buddhist influences, so I illustrated Bo’s mom as a mountain to show the idea of mother nature.
#2: Meghan asked me to draw five Asian America leaders and I got to decide who to draw. From the left to right, it’s Sundar Pichai (CEO of Google), Maxine Hong Kingston (writer), Gregg Araki (director), Maya Lin (architect), and Indra Nooyi (CEO of Pepsi).
#3: Portrait of Bo.
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1. 請簡短地自我介紹 ——
我是Jo，插畫家，或者廣義一點的來說，視覺藝術工作者。2013年的時候
我離開台灣前往美國，2015年在明尼蘇達州的Minneapolis College of
Art and Design取得插畫碩士，，目前在紐約生活及從事插畫相關的工作。
3. 如果人生有一場完美的散步，其中有什麼要素？ ——
路上有狗可以看……。我喜歡狗，但是目前沒有養狗的想法，所以走在路
上的時候特別喜歡看別人的狗。
5. 創作和生活的關聯 ——
我的創作一直以來都是被我的生活所影響。分手、壞掉的硬碟、旅行、喜
歡的影集，等等等等，大事小事都會出現在作品之中。過去兩年在研究所
的時候的作品大部分是關於我和他人的關係，那段時間一直被迫適應著因
為搬家和畢業所帶來的分離。搬來紐約之後的作品則是關於長大這件事，
畢竟是我第一次出社會嘛，沒想到當一個大人比我想像中的困難很多很多
，哈哈。近期創作的主題大部分圍繞著在大城市裡的渺小存在感，當然一
方面也是因為我人在紐約，一個連走路速度都要競爭的地方，偏偏我走路
很慢。
7. 孤獨的反義詞——
知足吧？
9. 在目前妳二十四歲的人生路途中，明尼蘇達對妳來說的意義是？ ——
在明尼蘇達的兩年是我人生中非常重要的轉捩點，目前來說可以說是最重
要的吧。過去兩年裡我平均每天花10－12個小時畫畫，不畫畫的時間裡幾
乎都是在想著作品的事，甚至連夢的內容都成為作品（不是電梯的夢）。
畢業之後有段時間總覺得無所適從，不知道自己除了畫畫還有什麼事情可
以做。如果沒有這兩年的時間，我應該不會知道自己對創作是這麼的充滿
熱情吧。研究所的期間也嘗試了將插畫結合裝置及表演，用一個更全面的
方式來說故事，這是以前從沒有預見過的發展性。雖然目前暫時停止了這
種需要特殊場域的創作形式，但其實現在在規劃作品的也會把裝置和表演
的可行性也考慮進去，未來如果有機會的話希望還能夠繼續。
11. 關於「夢遊」有沒有什麼浪漫的想法？——
我媽說我小時候有一次夢遊跟她說我頭很痛，哈哈。我從20歲左右開始的
時候只要喝了酒就會失去片段的記憶，那種情況應該有點類似夢遊的狀態
吧，不過感覺我做的應該不是太浪漫的事情……。
更多關於Jo的訪問
在〈孤獨部首〉店報＃01裏
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I recently had this interview with Anathapindika Books from Taiwan, and it’s included in their store newspaper!
“我是Jo，插畫家，或者廣義一點的來說，視覺藝術工作者。2013年的時候我離開台灣前往美國，2015年在明尼蘇達州的Minneapolis College of Art and Design取得插畫碩士，，目前在紐約生活及從事插畫相關的工作。
I am Jo, an illustrator. Or a visual artist, in a broader sense. I left Taiwan and headed to the US in 2013, and received my master degree from Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minnesota in 2015. I currently live and work as an illustrator in New York City.”
The Walk, Page 20 - 23
05
We brought back some rocks from the moon.
They shined like gems because they were exposed to the moonlight.
We sold the rocks and bought a house by a lake.
Sometimes we went for a walk along the lake, laughing and talking about our walk back to the Earth.
November 23, 2015, on the flight from Minneapolis back to NYC.
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The Walk是根據我和Eric在最後一次見面時的對話所寫成的故事。在遇見了Eric之後我開始斷斷續續的寫日記，能讓我更深刻的經歷那些和他相處的時間，卻也讓我在搬到新的城市試圖開始新的生活之後，還是覺得一部份的我仍留在那個北方多雪的城市裡。
我和Eric陸續的幾次見面，每次分別的時候都是在湖邊。有一次我們經過一塊空地，Eric開玩笑說我們可以在這邊蓋一間房子。故事的結尾並不是因此而來，事後想起卻覺得是個巧合。也許從那次起，我在潛意識裡一直都抱持著那樣的渴望吧。故事裡的地球是真實生活所在的地方，而現實裡的我們始終都在地球上，真實生活卻並非是我所想像的那樣子。於是有了The Walk這個故事—確確實實地就是我對“家”的想像。
The Walk is a story based on our conversation when I last saw Eric. After I met Eric, I started writing diaries, off and on. It helped me to experience the time with him more deeply, and even after I moved to a new city trying to start a new life, I felt a part of me still remained in that snowy northern city.
Somehow we were always by a lake every time I left. Once, we walked by a vacant lot, and Eric joked that we can build a house on it. That’s not where the ending comes from, but I think it’s an unsurprising coincidence—Perhaps I had been unconsciously longing for it since then. In the story, the Earth is where the real life is. In the reality, we were on the Earth, all the time, but the real life was not even close to what I imagined. So I wrote the story down, and it was an imagination of a “home” I once dreamt about.
*Fin*
You can listen to this song, Bling Bling Bling, by Queen Sea Big Shark while reading (this is an unplugged version, from the beginning to 6:30). I heard this song by accident when I was retouching the scans, and somehow it felt like a match with The Walk.
漫天的星光啊／哪裡是我的家／今天在一起吧
Thank you for following and reading!
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5" x 4", one-color-risograph-printed and hand-bond in Taiwan, signed and numbered, edition of 22.
Buy The Walk:
Etsy (US and international) | 給孤獨者書店 Anathapindika Books (Taiwan)
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