Today we’d like to introduce you to Jewelriet.
Hi Jewelriet, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m Korean and didn’t know any English when I moved to LA. I’d draw pictures instead of using words, and just never stopped drawing. My family had immigrated to the Japanese part of LA, and I made a ton of Japanese friends who taught me their language. Now my art has huge influences of anime, shojosei manga, and manhwa. My followers tell me my art tastes like kohakutou jelly, haha.
College took me to New York, and I took opportunities to go to places like Tokyo, Beijing, and Paris for a few months at a time. I was a broke college student and remember taking an overnight bus from Tokyo to Kyoto. I felt so invincible. The world was big and beautiful and I could see a lot of it on my own, even if it took some grit. I didn’t start posting art online until after I graduated, but I’m so glad I did because I grew such an encouraging online community that I get to take everywhere. It’s double the fun when I get to share my days with them, be it travel sketches or cute memes.
But at the end of the day I always come home to LA. My parents, sister, and some of my closest friends are here, and no problem feels too big when I’m with them. I’m grateful every day at my support system.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Life is tough and it makes us tough. So much so that we forget we were made to be treated gently. I was a good student growing up. I did what I was told to get the A and that continued into adult life. I found people to tell me what to do because I wanted to be part of something big even if I had to make myself small. I kept waiting for their permission to be an artist. After all, they had Wikipedia creds and I was just me. They told me I didn’t deserve to make art because I wasn’t extraordinary. I knew they were wrong. But when you hear something repeated enough times, you start to believe it.
In trying to survive I toughened myself up. Everything was always how do I get ahead, how do I get the upper hand, how do I win. Me, me, me. Every sharp and hard thing I could find, I used it. I put it between me and the world.
Still, someone was nice to me. No one big or fancy, just a regular person. And then someone else. Another one. More and more. Soft to me, kind to me for no reason. They told me my art was beautiful and so was I. I thought to myself maybe if I spent it with people like these, another day on this Earth wouldn’t be so bad. Days like that passed. And eventually, enough days had passed. Their kindness had saved me.
Art is my way of being that kindness for someone else. There is so much darkness in the world but also so much light, and all that light comes from people. Regular people who are extraordinary. People like you. You inspired my most recent and most beloved project, Bejeweled Planets. That’s what I draw and why I draw.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Bejeweled Planets is a universe inspired by you, illustrated by me. There are 8 billion people in the world which means 8 billion “Planets”, because each of us is a star. You and the planet you inspire me to draw become a part of the Bejeweled Planets community. And we are so beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
I know that’s hard to see when you’re in the thick of things. Splat in the middle of darkness. I’ve been making illustrations and animations of stars, planets, and galaxies for years for exactly that reason. To remind myself that even in a world of darkness there’s always light. To not be afraid of the dark because we shine brighter in it. I hope when you look at my art, you know you’re seeing yourself. I hope you feel beautiful and soft and brilliant. You’re always welcomed in my orbit.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
In Korean fortune telling called 사주 (saju), there is a concept called 인복 (inbok): luck specific to human relationships. I must’ve slid that luck scale to the max. I used to obsess over needing to be good at everything so I’d never have to rely on anyone and be fine by myself. But I don’t want to be “fine” anymore. I want to be belly laughing and ugly crying and jaw dropping in awe and surprise and delight of life. And I just can’t do all that by myself. My loved ones taught me that. They made my life fuller and my art better. That, I’ll say for sure, is Earth shattering good luck.
I wonder how many people’s lives you are enriching by just being you because I guarantee you that’s happening, right now, actively. Even if you aren’t good at everything. And aren’t “fine by yourself.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jewelriet.art
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/jewelrietart
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@jewelrietart
Image Credits
portraits 1, 2 by Ian Denegri
