Hellen Jo is an illustrator and cartoonist living in Los Angeles, CA. Hellen has contributed short comics and illustrations to various publications, including the Believer, Papercutter, Giant Robot, Electric Ant, and VICE. She has also shown her illustration work in a variety of gallery and museum shows, contributed to the independently-made video game, Calvin & Hellen's Bogus Journey and published the first issue of her comic Jin & Jam. She has been a storyboard artist for shows such as Steven Universe, Regular Show and others.
Image courtesy of the artist.
Hellen Jo is one of the artists in the Journey-scapes art exhibition at the Gene Siskel Film Center in conjunction with the FAAIM 21st Annual Asian American Showcase April 1st through 14th, 2016. We asked her a few questions about her work and artistic journey!
-What/Who inspires you?
Currently, I'm inspired by teen delinquents, LA skate videos, and the free issues of Teen Vogue that keep showing up in the mail. My two favorite artists are Xaime Hernandez and Taiyo Matsumoto.
Image courtesy of the artist.
-What are you working on right now?
Right now, I am preparing for Roadshow: Austin in July, an arts marketplace and party for ICON9, the Illustration Conference, and I'm translating Hong Yeon-sik's amazing Korean graphic novel, "Uncomfortably, Happily", to English for Drawn & Quarterly. I'm also neck-deep in unfinished paintings for a solo show at Giant Robot in October.
Image courtesy of artist.
-How would you describe your artistic journey?
I would call my "artistic journey" incredibly wayward, haphazard, and continuously unknown. It took a lot of crying, failing, dropping out, disappearing, and stress to end up here, drawing weird pictures in the dark in the back of the house. My path is never clear, even to myself, and I will probably continue to struggle with my desires, goals, and "purpose" all the way up til the day I die.
See more of Hellen Jo’s work on http://helllllen.org // Twitter @helllllen // Instagram @helllllenjjjjjo // Join us at Journey-scapes art exhibition going from April 1st through 14th, 2016.