We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sae Tamiya a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sae, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

One of my most meaningful projects for me is a personal project I worked on for our illustration course graduation show. I wanted a project that reflected on my three years at university and how I’d grown, as well as re-remember some things that I’d forgotten, like what I’m drawn to visually.

The whole process of painting it was a reflection on how linear my approach can sometimes be, in that I enjoy experimenting and coming up with lots of varied ideas, but at one point I become trapped in some logic that I’d built for myself. I was annoyed with this way of working, but I thought that at least for my last project I’d think of it positively and take advantage of it.

The outcome is a combination of a colouring book and a crossword puzzle, and the image in the center are symbols of some of my unfinished projects overlaid. It’s a visualisation of my thought process made up of elements I’m aesthetically drawn to, like grids, lines, and certain colours.

Sae, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a recent graduate of an illustration course. I like experimenting with different media and methods and don’t feel restricted to one form. Recently, I have been a 5 minute portrait artist at events! I also like illustrating based on text or anything related to books.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I wonder if other recent graduates feel this way or if it’s just me, but I have so many things I’d like to do that I don’t have a specific goal or mission. I want to write my own book and illustrate it, but I also want to illustrate other people’s book covers, investigate my hometown through zines… In general my goal is to always have an environment where I can make things and do all the projects I want to do!!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being always conscious of the fact that everything is designed, like for example the sign for a bed frame shop and imaging the people, maybe a family, that chose the font, specific shade of purple, and the three images of bed frames to decorate the sign. I think it reassures me that the city is made up of individuals, and it makes me appreciate the designs more.

Contact Info:

• Website: saetamiya.com (trying to fix issue with phone version, looks better on computer)
• Instagram: saetamiya