Another Kickstarter: Ricepaper’s Currents

It seems like it’s been the summer of the Kickstarter campaign for me. My essay about Chinese-Canadian identity was published last year by Ricepaper Magazine and now has been chosen to be included in their upcoming anthology, Currents, for which a Kickstarter campaign has gone live. Ricepaper is an awesome journal that has been publishing … Continue reading →

Teaser: Speculative Relationships & La Dame Bleue

It’s my pleasure to announce that the Speculative Relationships Kickstarter, which will feature comics from 19 different artists, is now live! For those curious, you can read more about the story I’m contributing.   I’m also offering a special reward – scented personalized postcards ❤ For those curious, I will be scenting the cards with … Continue reading →

Kawai’s Guide to London’s galleries, museums, bookstores & comics

Galleries & Museums The V&A Museum has an excellent collection that houses permanent exhibits on fashion and another on theatre, two of London’s cultural strengths. These are both highly recommended. It’s also quite a beautiful space. It’s located in close proximity to other museums and is within easy walking distance of Hyde Park and Kensington … Continue reading →

TCAF17 post mortem

Before I write this year’s recap, I thought I’d reflect on TCAF’s success in light of heightening tensions regarding diversity in creative fields. TCAF was one of my first introductions to comics and because of it, I operated under the blithe assumption that indie comics was largely free of the systemic forms of discrimination that … Continue reading →

Teaser: La Dame Bleue

Working hard on my comic for Speculative Relationships 3! You can read more about this comic and Isabella Blow here. Continue reading →

Kawai’s Guide to Representing Minorities

I wrote this post ages ago, way back in 2016, but then everyone around me became consumed with politics and it seemed out of place to publish it. I put it on ice and forgot about it. However, the recent controversy regarding Broken Pencil’s editor prompted me to remember what I’d written. Please note that … Continue reading →

Kawai’s Guide to TCAF Eats v.2

It’s been three years since I wrote a food related post for TCAF so it’s about time for an update. CLOSE TO THE TRL (listed in order of walking distance) Most restos listed below do takeaway, but almost everything is made to order, so there is a bit of a waiting period. Also, it’s worth … Continue reading →

Toronto International Porn Festival

Went to the Toronto Intl Porn Festival (fka the Feminist Porn Festival) last weekend and was pleasantly surprised. My chief criticism of some films from earlier years was how much of the porn was shot using the cinematic style of mainstream porn, i.e., low angle shots, constant closeups of genital penetration, framing that decapitates heads, … Continue reading →

Class and taboo

In the pursuit of transparency, I’m gonna share some numbers with y’all about money in Comic Freelancing — Rian Sygh 🏳️‍🌈 (@RianSygh) March 25, 2017 @RianSygh I worked my ass off last year, to sickness and burnout, and am still only scraping by. I think this transparency is important — Rian Sygh 🏳️‍🌈 (@RianSygh) March … Continue reading →

Speculative Relationships and the closest I will ever come to writing fanfic

I’m really happy to announce that my comic will be featured in the third and final volume of Speculative Relationships! I’m very pleased to be in excellent company with all the other artists on the lineup. The piece I’m working on is a spin-off of a longer script I wrote that’s heavily based on the … Continue reading →