Illustration
I like to draw cutaway drawings, trying to figure out what is hidden or at least try to see the world behind the walls, the dividers, the shell, and reveal what is inside it all.
My sketches and illustrations of everyday life are put into the context of the places I enjoy exploring in – subway stations and rail carriages, the built environment – places that others see no emotional value in being present to. These illustrations allow me to explore these spaces and reimagining them, from very dense compositions to surreal situations not possible in reality. I love getting lost in the details, without restricting myself to deadlines or objectives. Black and white, fine pen illustration offers the viewer a raw experience, free of colour and flourish and leaving it up to them to fill in the gaps. I draw as small as possible using fine Sakura pens, and I’m learning to draw more on digital using an iPad to attain even finer detail on an infinite canvas concept.
The only illustration to date that has some value as to becoming a signature piece is this drawing of a cutaway of OCAD University I drew during my thesis year. I needed a break from my studies and so I focused on creating this surreal piece of the school’s design building cut away to reveal the chaos of everyday student life, invaded by large cockroach-like computer bugs. At the time, I was at the IT department for work-study, and I needed to express the frustrations of technology while juggling with my studies and keeping myself sane out of it all. A few years later, while working at Xenophile Media (see Anxietyville) my producer noticed this drawing, bought it, and gifted it to OCAD U President Dr. Sara Diamond.
