Working across mediums such as painting, animation and mural-making,

Jocelyn Tsaih centers her artistic practice around a curious amorphous figure whose simple characteristics and abstract form seems to encompass a shared human experience. Tsaih uses this character to tell stories that are both personal and universal, drawing from her experience as a Taiwanese-American who grew up in Shanghai. “I think my upbringing has led me to cope with a lot of things through humor,” she tells HYPEBEAST. “I find joy in making work that involves self-deprecating humor or lighthearted jokes.”

Whether it’s a mural for Facebook, an illustration for The New York Times, or a throw design for Slowdown Studio, Tsaih’s works speak to a unifying theme: what it means to be human. Her figures live harmoniously with each other in real and fantastical worlds. They support one another — whether it’s lifting each other up or offering a hand — and find comfort in an embrace, limbs intertwined.

Tsaih cites day-to-day interactions, conversations about life and being in unfamiliar or foreign places as sources of inspiration, leading to works that closely observe human nature.

In response to the current coronavirus pandemic, Tsaih has launched Save Our Chinatowns, a fundraiser which supports Chinatowns in the Bay Area through two non-profit organizations, Chinatown CDC and Chinatown Improvement. The funds are used to make large weekly orders at local restaurants and deliver them to homeless shelters in Oakland, as well as to seniors and SRO families in San Francisco.

For our latest Pen & Paper feature, we reached out to Jocelyn Tsaih to discuss her creative upbringing, evolving style and how she is managing to work amid COVID-19.

“I want to focus on the emotions, thoughts and relationships that we share universally.”

Describe the moment when you were first introduced to art. How old were you?

I can’t remember my first art moment, but my dad keeps one of my first ever drawings in his wallet. It’s a drawing of “fish” that I did when I was around two years old. They’re just squiggly lines that are apparently meant to be fish.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in design and illustration?

Art was one of the few subjects I enjoyed and seemed to be good at, but like most of my peers, I categorized art in the “hobby” column instead of the “career” one. I didn’t personally know anyone who pursued art and made a living off of it, so I wanted to make sure I was being realistic. I eventually realized I shouldn’t lie to myself, though the decision seemed scary.

Even then, I wanted to play it safe and be practical, so I chose to major in advertising. It didn’t take me long to learn that advertising wasn’t for me, so I shifted to graphic design, which provided me more creative freedom. Throughout my time at art school, I learned that I mainly enjoyed storytelling. Graphic design allowed me to do that in a way, but I dove a little deeper and tried to find my voice through illustration and animation.