I started this blog years ago as a way to document my journey as an artist, and to have a dedicated space to reflect on what art means to me. That’s changed a lot for me in recent years.
Since the last time I posted here the world has basically been turned upside-down as we’ve faced a global pandemic, political upheaval, civil unrest, a worsening climate crisis, and more human death and suffering than my mind can currently process.
I was beginning to wonder if, in the middle of all this chaos, making art even really mattered anymore. Could it really make a difference in a time when people seem so set on destroying each other and the planet we share?
For a long time I couldn’t draw anything.
Inspiration did eventually find me again though, in an unexpected way that’s fundamentally changed how I think about art and why it matters more than I had imagined..
While we were in quarantine my family had a lot of time on our hands. Like, a lot. As we eventually settled into new routines, quite a bit of that time came to be filled with stories. We read and reread books, watched new movies and TV series, revisited old favorites, and played more video games than the “responsible mother” part of me wants to admit.
Our already formidable collection of manga began to expand even more, eventually outgrowing our bookshelves. We spent hours binge-watching anime like My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, Dragon Ball Z, Toilet-Bound Hanako Kun, and Moriarty the Patriot. We had deep (and enlightening) discussions about character arcs, cheered on our favorite heroes (and villains), and had heated debates over which series did the best job of telling its story.
It was during this time that I started to think more deeply about the impact stories have on our lives, and the connection between storytelling and different forms of artistic expression.
As my kids and I rewatched our favorite episodes for the tenth time, I started to ask myself, what is it about these characters and narratives that draw us in? Why do we care so much about these fictional worlds? What makes this visual form of storytelling so effective?
These questions led me to go back and revisit areas of art study that had inspired me when I was younger but that had taken a backseat to other interests, like character design, animation, concept art, and illustration. The more I studied, the more fascinated I became with the way artists are able to build entire worlds, limited only by imagination, for the purpose of sharing a story that matters to them.
This desire to share stories through art has been a common thread in nearly every human culture from the very beginning, and as I thought about why this is, I began to understand that art is about so much more than just making pretty pictures.
When things finally calmed down and we were able to get out into the world again, my family went to our first anime convention. It was here that a lot of this came together for me as I experienced firsthand the energy of hundreds of complete strangers from all different backgrounds gathered together to celebrate the stories we love. Differences were irrelevant, and everyone belonged. The world felt a little brighter that day.
It was also here, surrounded by the cosplayers and artist alley vendors, that I found myself desperately wanting to make art again. But not for the same reasons as before.
For as long as I can remember my main goal had been photorealism–to faithfully render what I saw in front of me. Now, I wanted to make something that people could connect with on a deeper level, to contribute to the beautifully diverse collection of stories that bring us together and make the world a kinder, less divided place.
I’m still working out what that might actually look like in practice, but in the meantime I’m exploring new possibilities and experimenting with methods and styles I haven’t tried before. As a result my art looks a bit different than it used to, but it’s never brought me such joy as it does now.
As difficult as these past few chaotic years have been, they’ve helped me appreciate in a new way how stories are a fundamental part of who we are, and that art in all its forms is a uniquely powerful storyteller. It can change us if we let it, showing us who we are and who we want to be, helping us find common ground, heal wounds, and envision a better world.
We need that now more than ever.