Jem Yoshioka (born 1986) is a New Zealand illustrator and comic artist. She has won several comic awards and is best known for her webcomic ''Circuits and Veins'' which has attracted a large following on Webtoon.

Biography

Jem Yoshioka is of Japanese and

Pākehā ''Pākehā'' (or ''Pakeha''; ; ) is a Māori language, Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesians, Polynesian New Zealanders, New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zeala ...

heritage. As a young child she was always interested in storytelling and drawing, and as a teenager, she started creating her own stories and worlds. She did not have access to many comics growing up, apart from

Tintin Tintin usually refers to: * ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé ** Tintin (character), the protagonist and titular character of the series Tintin or Tin Tin may also refer to: Material related to ''The A ...

, but once she discovered comics on the Internet, she found a whole new way of telling stories. She grew up in Napier and studied Computer Graphic Design at Whanganui School of Design. She is a freelance illustrator and also works full-time in the communications industry. She lives in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand. She works in various media, including digital illustration, watercolour and ink work, and soft textiles.

Work

Yoshioka has always been interested in science fiction and fantasy genres and her work, both fiction and non-fiction, circles around themes of belonging, place and heritage. An early influence on her work is

Shaun Tan Shaun Tan (born 15 January 1974) is an Australian artist, writer and film maker. He won an Academy Award for '' The Lost Thing'', a 2011 animated short film adaptation of the 2000 picture book he wrote and illustrated. He also wrote and illustrat ...

because of how he handled the relationship between words and pictures. Other influences on her work comes from her love of photography, video games, traditional Japanese printmaking, fashion, animation, film, fine art, dance and novels. She began in her teens and early 20s with creating long-form webcomic publishing, but switched to short comics. This allowed her to focus and tell a different type of story. She has been published in ''Loop Magazine'', ''Tearaway'' and ''World Sweet World'', ''Three Words'' - the New Zealand Women’s comics anthology and by Square Planet Comics, as well as creating band posters and merchandise. Her work has been published in the ''

New Zealand School Journal The ''New Zealand School Journal'' is a periodical children's educational publication in New Zealand. Founded in 1907 by the Ministry of Education (New Zealand), Department of Education, it is one of the world's longest-running publications for ...

''. ''An Opal Dream Cave'', inspired by a poem by

Katherine Mansfield Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer and critic who was an important figure in the Literary modernism, modernist movement. Her works are celebrated across the world and have been ...

of the same name and images from the photograph collection of the

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

, won the Supreme Remix Award in the 2010 Mix and Mash competition. She won first place in the Chromacon New Zealand Indie Arts Festival Comic Awards in 2013 and 2015. She has published several webcomics, including ''Circuits and Veins'' which features two female characters, human and android and has thousands of subscribers and over a million views on the webcomic platform Line

Webtoon Webtoons () are a type of episodic digital comics that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allo ...

. In 2017, Yoshioka's work was featured as part of Satellites, a series of exhibitions across

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

showcasing contemporary Asian artists.

References

External links

Jem Yoshioka's blog

Circuits and Veins
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshioka, Jem 1986 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand women artists People from Napier, New Zealand New Zealand comics artists New Zealand female comics artists New Zealand editorial cartoonists New Zealand women editorial cartoonists New Zealand webcomic creators New Zealand people of Japanese descent