Cara Ziruo Wang is an illustrator and designer who is originally from Guangzhou, China, and currently studying at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her work primarily revolves around editorial and children’s book projects, or collaborating with other artists and designers to make work that pushes the boundaries.
With many publications and advertisement projects seen by the world, such as Sam’s, Philips, Tianmao, Julirose, MARIANNBOLLE, Forest Child Clothing, etc. Meanwhile, her illustrations received some awards and recognitions such as Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, 3X3 Illustration winner, etc. She also published several children’s books with Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, Tomorrow Publication, etc. She was selected to be the Zankel Scholar by the Society of Illustrators in 2023.
Thank you for joining us, Cara. We’d love to hear how the journey has been so far. Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Thank you so much for having me! My name is Cara Ziruo Wang, an illustrator based in Providence, NYC, and China. I’m originally from Guangzhou, China, and I’m currently pursuing a BFA in illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design.
My work revolves around editorial and children’s book projects, as well as collaborating with other artists and designers to create work that pushes boundaries. I love walking down the streets of New York City, listening to cars zoom past while blasting Chinese country music, smelling the dried fish and fruits from nearby stalls, observing people in candy-colored clothes going about their day, and collecting stories from them. I truly cherish all the scenes and stories from the streets, but more than that, I wish to share them with the world.
What brings you to art? What ideas are you exploring in your practice?
I grew up in a rainy, near-sea city, nurtured by the stories told by my grandma. Once, she told me the story of her mother, a salt worker who raised my grandma and provided her with education by carrying baskets of salt on her shoulder and transporting them from the salt field to ships and trucks. When I was little, my grandma would take my sister and me back to her village to worship the graves of our ancestors.
As we climbed to the very top of the hill where the graves were located, we could see the entire village. In my eyes, the squares of salt fields and the moving spots of salt workers formed a vibrant pattern of country art. The farmers and their oxen plowed through the field, getting dirt and water onto themselves, leaving marks that formed paths: this was my first knowledge about mark-making and graphic art.
Inspired by the landscape and culture of my hometown, I aspire to create work that can transport viewers to different worlds, evoke feelings of togetherness and curiosity, and produce illustrations that are playful and full of emotion, resonating with both children and adults alike.
You’ve been very active during the past few years. What is the most exciting thing you’ve done or accomplished so far?
I am currently an undergraduate illustration student at Rhode Island School of Design. Since my junior year in college, I have started to reach out to art directors, submitting to awards, and gradually getting my work published. I say yes to all the opportunities that come to my sight, and I believe that’s a way to get yourself started in the industry.
Although I have worked on numerous projects that excite me, one, in particular, stands out as truly meaningful and deserving of a wider audience. It’s an advertising poster for the Japanese makeup company MARIANNBOLLE. In the poster, I depicted a woman who doesn’t conform to the typical “Asian beauty standard” (pale and extremely skinny), a rarity in East Asian makeup campaigns. When I submitted my sketches, I expected the art director to reject the idea. However, I wrote to him, expressing the need for images like this in Asian makeup campaigns, as this person represents thousands of women who are brave and confident, embodying true beauty. To my surprise, both the art directors and the brand’s senior designers appreciated this perspective, expressing that the beauty industry needs more images like this.
What does “community” mean to you? How do you see yourself in a community?
To me, “community” means a group of people that provide support to each other.
A year ago, I was invited by a bookstore in Flushing, NYC, to give the children of the Chinese community there a small art lesson. During the lesson, one kid noticed the Chinese cultural elements in my work and shared that he felt disconnected from his Chinese heritage. I was
shocked at how a young child could grasp such complex emotions, but it also fueled my desire to help my community in reconnecting and finding pride and belonging in our culture.
My work draws inspiration from the people and culture of my community. With public platforms and resources, I aspire to serve the communities I am part of by amplifying their stories and contributing to the creation of them.
Is there any topic or theme you’ve been particularly interested in lately?
I believe illustration is to translate the feeling of myself and others on to the paper, using my artistic language.
Regarding “style” or “artistic language,” it is actually an abstract term that is hard to describe in words. Some artists spend a lifetime narrating the story of an ordinary girl, while others are dedicated to depicting a small town in Dongbei, China. There are also those who explore the secrets of the sea and the wind. So I want to say, there exists a unique story within me that revolves around the city, smell, and its people.
I come from a very middle-class family in Guangzhou, China. When I was little, this city had been through rapid changes economically and socially. During these changes, many new people came into the city, such as students from all over the world, small business owners who opened restaurants and cooked food from their hometown, construction workers from very remote countryside. Ever since then, I realized: everyone has stories (happy or sad), but at the end, we are all just small people, living through big time and big changes.
So when I came to the US, I found a world that carries as much beauty and diversity as the one I came from, but more, stories from people of all cultures and backgrounds.
So what I wish to explore lately, and always has been, is to connect my audience with all kinds of expressions that exist in this world, so at the end, they feel that this whole world, with all of its wonderful, surprising, and very real similarities and differences, is their home.
Do you have any advice that you would offer to others?
I have consistently been the youngest person in all the professional occasions of my life. Being a freelance illustrator while still in school is uncommon, but my experience has taught me that it’s correct, as long as you undertake manageable and meaningful work.
Despite working on many commercial projects, I make it a point to, once the workday ends, take my sketchbook and explore the streets and alleys, capturing every face I encounter. I love absorbing new sights, sounds, and unexpected human interactions in various places. It’s these experiences that I absorb into my heart that make me unique in the industry.
Overall, I just want to say Everyone has a unique story that exists in each one of our hearts, and that is what makes us unique and loved for just being who we are.
text & photo courtesy of Cara Ziruo Wang
- Website: https://carawangziruo.myportfolio.com
- Instagram: @carawart
