hey everyone
I’ll be writing some newsletter updates every now & then about my art happenings! I know it’s three months into 2023, but I figured it’s an okay time for a 2022 recap, right?
some things about my new life as a full time artist
I like folding laundry in the morning.
Taxes have become infinitely more challenging. If you’re as clueless as I am, this guide for artists might be helpful.
I can go to lion dance performances during the daytime now.
Hit me up for a daytime lion dance during your work hours.Or not.My wife made me a kotatsu on which I can do my art things while my legs stay warm.
2022 art-life recap
I’m infinitely grateful for the many opportunities that were given to me this year:
Thanks to my incredible agent, Wendi Gu, I was lucky enough for Noodle & Bao to go to auction. Noodle & Bao will be published by Harper Collins Quill Tree in 2024 (along with a second graphic novel).
I also signed a deal for two (top-secret) picture books with Penguin Kokila. (again, thank you Wendi! <3 pls get yourselves an agent like Wendi???)
I left my beloved Media Arts classroom in & my even more beloved students in Boston Public Schools to write the aforementioned four books. One of my faves just sent me the sweetest catch up email at 1 am, and I teared up immediately upon receipt. The kidssss!!!
We painted a big fat mural on Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy Malden, where I now spend a large amount of my limited free time throwing spears into my own face. (Also, had a fun time with Cedric, giving our website a face-lift).
In more mural-ish news, Viv and I painted a window mural on Chinese Progressive Association to urge people to vote YES on Questions 1 (Fair Share Act) and 4 (Work and Family Mobility Act).
I tabled at the Boston Art Book Fair for the first time and sold a bunch of zines. My very dear friend & comics collaborator Sunny and I debuted Wetu, an anthology of queer two spirit stories!
boston art book fair 2022! pic #3 by lauren s
And lastly, thank you to the very incredible Lex Weaver for interviewing me for the Changemaker series for the Scope to talk about art & activism, and to Lory Hough for profiling my work in Harvard Ed Magazine.
some things to look forward to
We (me + the youth + community members) are restoring our community mural in Boston Chinatown. I’ve been working with Asian Community Development Corporation on the restoration, and we’re very excited to re-install it this weekend!
Wing on Wo & Co, which I’ve long admired from afar is going to stock Wetu!! and my zine about Parcel C (thank you to Chinatown Story Cart aka Lily and Crystal for funding the first run of the zine, and to Yu Sin Mok for the translations!).
I’m going to make some stickers!!!
some things i’m enjoying & want *you* to enjoy
HK cafe style food from Rubato! If you go, get their bolo bao, which is not only the best in Boston but handmade by my kung fu sib/aspiring artist-animator (yes, a very multifaceted person) & friend Laura.
In Limbo, by Deb JJ Lee — a beautifully rendered (I have to keep emphasizing **beautiful**) graphic novel memoir about a Korean American teen’s coming of age and their struggles with mental health & family. It’s Lonely at the Center of the Earth by Zoe Thorogood, which probably has some of the most fun comic pages I’ve read ever about sadness!
So many amazing queer & trans fantasy books — Cemetery Boys, by Aiden Thomas (young adult fantasy about a trans boy coming into his own as a brujx), Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (indigenous-inspired epic fantasy with political intrigue, gods, and destiny), Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (intersecting stories about young trans violin prodigy, her teacher who made a deal with the devil, and an alien-refugee family running a donut shop in San! Gabriel! Valley! ps everyone is Asian).
That’s it for now! Thanks for reading byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee