We recently connected with Felicia Liang and have shared our conversation below.

Felicia, 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.

My projects have all reflected specific periods in my life so they all hold their own special meaning for me. However, the one that best encapsulates who I am today is perhaps my Taiwanese travel sketchbook series. It’s a project that started purely for my own enjoyment when I spent 3 months living in Taiwan in 2022. I use fun colors to draw food and write about my favorite places to go. I get to be specific about my love for Taiwanese culture and explore what being Taiwanese American means to me. I also get to hype up Taiwan, one of my favorite places in the world and a third home to me (after California and New York).

But what makes this project so meaningful is the amazing Taiwanese American community of creatives and entrepreneurs I met both online and in person, which may have stemmed from when I started sharing these drawings. The Taiwanese community really shows up for each other. This project has inspired other artwork I’ve made since that trip and these sketchbook spreads are fun to draw, which is at the root of why I enjoy what I do.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Felicia Liang, and I’m an artist, illustrator, and risograph printmaker based in the Bay Area, California. I love using color and adding some maximalist whimsy to my work, much of which is a reflection of the communities and cultures I’m around. I work with clients on editorial and commercial illustration projects, and my work has been featured on Artsy, New York Magazine, and Refinery 29. I also sell my colorful art prints online and in-person, with many of them highlighting my love of food, my Taiwanese American identity, and celebrating local Chinatowns.

My personal projects have generated lots of cool opportunities for me, from public speaking to menu illustrations to having my art on TV, and I’m proud of how I’ve been able to show up as an artist in ways I never would have imagined. I’m grateful for all the relationships I’ve built with both the creative community and from partnerships I’ve had. I especially have fun collaborating with local organizations and small businesses on projects and finding cool ways to use art to embed myself and my work in the communities I’m in.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

It’s as simple as just drawing what I want to see more of in the world, whether it’s for a gallery show, or making something for my print shop, or a merch collaboration with a client. I love drawing what excites me, what feels silly to me, or something that helps me process whatever is happening around me. An example would be when I made an illustrated book about growing up Asian American in 2016. I wanted to make something about my lived experiences that I didn’t see enough of growing up.

I love the excitement I get when I have an idea in my mind and just feel a need to share it with others and I hope I get to continue exploring life through visual storytelling. I want to continue trying different things and working across different media too. I can’t imagine not doing this.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There are two things for me. The first is just being able to explore who I am as a person through color, images, and stories. Art has shaped my sense of self and how I show up everyday and I’ve found that being comfortable enough to express myself in public has also made me a better contributor to my community. The second is the ability to connect with others. Art lets me be in dialogue with others, and if I’m lucky enough, my work makes others feel something or feel seen. When something that was created as a means of self expression resonates with a broader audience, that’s one of the sweet spots of being an artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.felicia-liang.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefliang/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felicialiang/