HER art is self-therapy for Joyce Ho, better known by her Instagram handle Arty Guava, especially when 2020 was a very challenging year for many and things continue to be so.
“Like many other people, I’m affected by my negative feelings from social isolation and the uncertainty of what is happening,’’ said Ho.
“I started illustrating religiously at the start of Covid-19 to centre myself and bring myself some comfort.”
The move helped to take her mind off worries and to focus on things that made her happy, explained the Vancouver-based creator.
However, Ho’s journey as a graphic designer and illustrator did not come easy, despite art being a part of her life since she was young.
“It’s a love-hate relationship.”
She recounted that her mother kept her occupied with colouring books as a child, but discouraged her from art as a career for fear that “I’d end up on the streets”.
“I followed her advice and pursued a degree in Bioengineering in Singapore. By then, I’d completely given up on art and didn’t create anything for many years.”
But art kept calling her name.
“A year after graduation, while I was working, I decided to pursue a diploma in multimedia design,” Ho said.
She made a career switch after that course.
“The rest is history. I’ve come full circle to what I originally wanted to do.”
How has your art evolved?
I used to do a lot of fashion illustration in watercolour but after a while, it didn’t feel right. I was sort of recreating what I see in magazines.
The fashion industry tends to push a certain aesthetic of how a woman should look like. I didn’t agree with that but I didn’t know how to express it. So, I went more abstract from doing something very realistic.
With my current illustration style, it’s more about how the person is feeling or the environment she’s in.
How have the places you have been to influenced your work?
I draw a lot of inspiration from my idyllic childhood growing up in Penang. It was a carefree time with simple joys, which is something I like to recreate in my art.
When I was working in Singapore as a graphic designer, I developed a deeper appreciation for my Peranakan roots through a work project. I became fascinated by the unique hybridisation of Chinese with local cultures. It has definitely influenced the way I play with colour and use patterns and motifs in my artwork.
Vancouver is the first place I’ve ever lived in that has four seasons. I feel that the environment around me is in a constant state of change and that I must also change to accommodate it. I’ve noticed that I’m drawn towards certain colour palettes depending on the seasons, colourful during spring, warm during the summer, and more muted during winter.
In what way does your art connect to the world around you?
An important theme that runs through my art is harmony and that everything gets along with each other. People living in harmony with other people, with nature, the environment, and with themselves.
We saw many conflicts in 2020, including the Black Lives Matter movement and this year, with the #StopAsianHate movement. I continue to push the idea of harmony between people of all shades through my art in the hope that we can all overcome racism one day.
Another important theme is joy. Even in difficult times, I feel that we need to find simple joys to sustain ourselves. Creating my art and sharing them with the world is my simple joy. It brings me great satisfaction that other people derive joy from seeing my art as well.
Are the women portrayed in your illustrations real?
I love drawing female figures. They represent nurturing, care and gentleness and those are the qualities that I naturally gravitate towards. The women in my art are my ‘companions’, born out of social isolation. We are always having fun, being silly and dancing in a tropical paradise. I never really gave them names but they feel familiar to me.
What do you think of when drawing these figures?
I often think about childhood friends. I feel very grateful that I still maintain very close relationships with childhood friends from primary school. Enduring friendship is hard to come by and I cherish them all the more now that I’m abroad and far away from home.
What motivates you?
Making a connection with people through art. I love receiving messages from people who see my work and feel connected with it. I’m not good with words so it’s nice to feel understood through my art.
Also seeing my five-year-old son’s eyes light up when he sees my works in public. He recently spotted a puzzle with my design at a shop and he pointed it out to me even before I noticed it. It was a special kind of feeling.
