Hong Kong-born South Australian artist Jessie Hui has designed a fun, cute and energetic program cover for OzAsia Festival. CityMag asked Jessie about her process and inspiration.
Meet the artist behind bubble tea-drinking cats for OzAsia
Sep 26, 2024, updated Nov 01, 2024
When Jessie Hui was asked by OzAsia Festival artistic and executive producer Joon-Yee Kwok to illustrate the OzAsia program cover, she wanted to emulate what the festival will feel like in 2024.
“And then I think after that briefing, what I got is that it’s really a fun festival – a thing that creative people come in together and share what they are passionate about,” she says.
When illustrating, Jessie says she began to think about OzAsia performers and also people “sharing that passion”, showcasing how art in different forms can inspire others.
“I also start thinking about what does that mean to have a passion? It could be like art or performing. It could be like a very serious thing, but to me, it can also be a very casual thing,” she says.
“Maybe my passion is to just enjoy bubble tea, or, you know, find out the best bubble tea in town, or just to read.
“I think OzAsia creates this unique time and space that allowed that to happen, like to express the passion, or to be inspired to find out what interested me.
“So I think from this idea, it becomes the illustration. That’s why it’s very crowded. It’s really fun, and it has a lot of little small symbols happening in that scene and I think that sums up what OzAsia is going to be.”
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The artwork, titled Pink skies and magical feelings, illustrates multiple cats “doing their own thing” like drinking bubble tea, reading a book, playing guitar, cuddling and more.
The “hero cat” has a “backpack of dumplings” and is also “inviting other people to go on this adventure”.
‘Pink skies and magical feelings’ by Jessie Hui. This picture: supplied.“And I think along with the cover art, this became my exhibition on checking in with myself – that’s a theme – so that’s why it’s Hello, how am I? Instead of how are you?” she says.
Jessie says her style is “very illustrative” and “very graphic” driven.
“My inspirations are from anime, cartoons, video games – I grew up with those things like that,” she says.
“That’s why all the cats are very colourful. They have a very strong outline.
“It’s not abstract. They’re kind of in between abstract and decorative. You can kind of tell what’s going on, but also there’s a lot of hidden details [with] abstract forms and ideas hidden within.”
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Jessie Hui“And art is one of the things that I stuck with during my childhood, and I didn’t give up, unlike other sports activities and other stuff,” she laughs.
Jessie says this journey began with “drawing little things”: “And then as I grow up, I feel like the process of creating things from my mind was really fun, and I really enjoyed it.”
“As I grow up more, I feel more connected to this activity.
“I’m a very introverted person, and then the process of making art helps me to go inside of myself and find peace, to feel calm, or to express and to understand myself a bit more.
“So that’s why I couldn’t let go of making art.”
Jessie says she sees art as an “expression of self” but it wasn’t until she studied an arts degree that she began to take this seriously.
“I think it was after I graduated, I sat down and think like ‘what am I going to do with this?’ and ‘how else can I keep moving and making art?’” she says.
“I still felt the interest of doing it and then also think how else I can make art in a way that is not only for myself, but it’s also for other people.
“Because I found this when I’m doing art for myself, I’m like ‘okay, maybe I can do a bit more so that other people can also enjoy it like me’, even though they didn’t make the artwork.
“How can I share this part of me to other people?”
Jessie’s exhibition Hello, how am I? for OzAsia Festival is on show at the Adelaide Festival Centre foyer from October 24 until November 16.
Connect with Jessie on Instagram for more.
More of Jessie’s work. This picture: supplied.