Nothing to See
Cover for the June 16, 2025 issue of The New Yorker. Whether it's the vase of flowers or glass of wine that goes flying off the table (and onto the precious rug), cats knock over the things we care about and continue to be adored regardless.
You can read more about the work here in the Cover Story!
For prints, please head over to the Condé Nast Store.
Art editors: Françoise Mouly and Genevieve Bormes
For prints, please head over to the Condé Nast Store.
Art editors: Françoise Mouly and Genevieve Bormes
Sophia Kai: Finding belonging within a fractured world
Artwork for Kamea Chayne’s Green Dreamer, a podcast with “conversations guided by questions around what it means to nurture more loving, liberating, and life-affirming worlds *for all*.”
The episode featured poet and musician Sophia Kai of Journey of the Soul, who spoke about the paradoxes of being human and how we may collectively continue to liberate ourselves from oppressive systems today.
While I was listening to Sophia’s music, a tapestry of humanity rose to the surface of my mind. A figure wears the paradoxes of humanity while still choosing to care for a little flower, a fellow creature with whom they share their life on Earth, their existence in the Universe.
The episode featured poet and musician Sophia Kai of Journey of the Soul, who spoke about the paradoxes of being human and how we may collectively continue to liberate ourselves from oppressive systems today.
While I was listening to Sophia’s music, a tapestry of humanity rose to the surface of my mind. A figure wears the paradoxes of humanity while still choosing to care for a little flower, a fellow creature with whom they share their life on Earth, their existence in the Universe.
Letters from Earthling
“Letters from Earthling” is a four-part epistolary series written by Earthling to their extragalactic pen pal known simply as "Friend.” Published online and in the print issues of The New York Times, Sunday Arts & Leisure section.
Art Director: Jennifer Ledbury
Editor: Rebecca Thomas
Click on the image below to view each piece in the series.
Art Director: Jennifer Ledbury
Editor: Rebecca Thomas
Click on the image below to view each piece in the series.
A Thin Line Billboard
Billboard design for Galeria Rusz/Rusz Foundation in Toruń, Poland.
When I was sketching ideas for the billboard, the radio was spewing out the latest horrors from Ukraine, numbers and strategies explained as if war were a game with no consequences to humanity. And as I was completing this work in summer 2022, I thought of the Palestinian people facing brutal attacks by the Israeli military.
While I have been privileged to grow up in bubbles of cautious stability, being from Japan, a country whose rulers committed atrocious crimes, colonized their neighbors, and were later silenced to “peace” by the American atomic bombs and the occupation that followed, I am aware of just how thin and complex that line is, between war and peace.
When I was sketching ideas for the billboard, the radio was spewing out the latest horrors from Ukraine, numbers and strategies explained as if war were a game with no consequences to humanity. And as I was completing this work in summer 2022, I thought of the Palestinian people facing brutal attacks by the Israeli military.
While I have been privileged to grow up in bubbles of cautious stability, being from Japan, a country whose rulers committed atrocious crimes, colonized their neighbors, and were later silenced to “peace” by the American atomic bombs and the occupation that followed, I am aware of just how thin and complex that line is, between war and peace.
Rights of Every Child
The Rights of Every Child invited me to choose and illustrate one guaranteed right adapted from the 54 articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. I chose the right to protection from mental violence.
Here is my statement:
Violence can leave marks not just on our skin, but also on the inside, like in our hearts and in our minds. Because it is especially hard for children to shield themselves when violence is near, we as a community of guardians have the responsibility to keep the world's children safe. As I was drawing this piece, I thought of the times when kind people protected me from mental violence. Their love and support felt like a warm embrace where I could relax and be taken care of. As I've gotten older, I've learned that this warmth is abundant and it lives inside me too! So I try to share my warmth with people who may need that kind of protection or support.
Violence can leave marks not just on our skin, but also on the inside, like in our hearts and in our minds. Because it is especially hard for children to shield themselves when violence is near, we as a community of guardians have the responsibility to keep the world's children safe. As I was drawing this piece, I thought of the times when kind people protected me from mental violence. Their love and support felt like a warm embrace where I could relax and be taken care of. As I've gotten older, I've learned that this warmth is abundant and it lives inside me too! So I try to share my warmth with people who may need that kind of protection or support.
