We recently connected with Hannah Li and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Hannah, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
I worked with Capstone and the Caldecott Honor Book author Bao Phi on a Children’s book, and it’s been a dream. “You Are Life” is a poem that celebrates Asian Americans and children of immigrants on the joy they are bringing to the world. Anti-Asian racism is something that is invisible in history, but sadly it’s been existing. Since the pandemic, Anti-Asian has surged in crime and as a female Asian living in the US. I felt and still feel sadness, fear, anger, exhaustion, and many other mixed feelings. The strong message of “Who you are and What you love will always be enough” came out of the beautiful poem. Creating the illustrations for “You Are Life” was like a healing process for me. It’s somehow dragging me out of the negative emotions and reminds me as an artist, I can do things to help my community and anyone of different ethnicity who’s been mistreated to be braver, more confident, and to love themselves more.
Hannah, 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 was born and raised in China and had my BFA in Oil Painting, then came to the US to pursue graduate study in Illustration. I graduated from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2019 and moved to NY, working as a freelance illustrator since then. I offer illustration solutions for various clients and lately, I mainly worked with publishers like Penguin Random House and Macmillan, and editorial clients such as Washington Post and New York Times. My background in fine arts subtly influences my illustrations. I primarily work digitally but always gets inspiration from traditional techniques to bring unique touches to my work. My pictures are often described as optimistic, soothing, and emotional.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
One of the most rewarding aspects of being an artist is to resonate with people by expressing my voice in work, especially in Illustration, the pictures coexist with the subject matters that people talk about in their daily life, and I’m always happy to connect with them and bring images to life.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I remember the very first time that I developed a sense of storytelling is when I saw one of the sequential picture books my dad published at his early age. I was astounded by the charm of the narratives he made through the combination of text and images. Since then, telling stories has become my interest. Working as an artist now always feels like a natural path, and I couldn’t think of anything better to commit to. Of course, “liking art” and “doing art for a living” can be completely different. I would say the biggest motivation that drives my creative journey is believing art is my language, and I can always use this magnetic media to talk with people and create a world I want to live in.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hannahliart.com/
- Instagram: hannahhhli
- Facebook: Hannah Li Art
- Other: https://www.behance.net/hannahli