Author: loa4@illinois.edu

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Rachel Lyons

“I Wish it were Easy” (36x48in, acrylic on canvas, 2021)

Rachel Lyons is a visual artisan and designer that specializes in India Ink and Impasto artworks. ‘I Wish it were Easy’ is a 36 x 48 inch acrylic work that was created at the beginning of 2020 to depict what it feels like to be overwhelmed, but gained a new meaning as COVID-19 being a reality when it was finished in 2021.

Find more of Rachel’s work on: @rach.lyo and @roxvx on instagram

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Andrew Jang

“Digital Collapse” (flexible, Adobe Photoshop/digital, 2021)

“Define the beauty” (flexible, Adobe Fresco/digital, 2021)

“Gazed society” (flexible, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Fresco/digital, 2021)

“The moment in the lucid dream” (flexible, Adobe Lightroom/digital, 2021)

“City lights” (flexible, Adobe Lightroom/digital, 2021)

“My name is Andrew Jang (boundary) and the main focus of my art pieces are patterns, illustration, and photography. I started creating art pieces when I admired how a single piece of artwork can contain and convey a variety of feelings to the audience. Sharing my pieces in public to communicate with the audience has always been my pleasure and my art pieces contain an attraction of pulling multiple sentiments from the audience. There is no right or wrong answer to feeling a certain way. Instead, I want you to focus more solely on the emotion as you scan through my art piece. Welcome to my boundary.”

– Andrew Jang

See more of Andrew’s work on https://www.instagram.com/boundary____official/, https://welcometomyboundary.myportfolio.com/

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Kofi Bazzell-Smith

“My work covers a wide range of craft and genre. Manga requires proficiency in drawing figure and environments, design literacy, dialogue, and story construction. My recent series, Rabbit and Toad, is inspired by 12th century emaki scroll art and references Edo and Heian era pieces as well. Employing modern cinematic narrative and manga techniques, this story addresses social hierarchy, egalitarianism, and class conflict, using anthropomorphic animal characters as metaphors.” – Kofi Bazzell-Smith 

 

Kofi Bazzell-Smith is an artist, professional boxer, and educator specializing in Japanese manga(comics). A U.S.-Japan Bridging Scholar, Kofi has boxed and studied manga in Japan. He is also boxing coach and teaches workshops on art, language, and storytelling. Championing the Black manga movement, Kofi strives to build bridges between the United States and Japan through art making and public speaking. Kofi is the founder and president of the Eastern Illinois University Japanese Culture Club, where he teaches free Japanese lessons to students. He is also the creator of the Azuki children’s book series, written in both English and Japanese.
See more of his work at www.kofimanga.com