Meet Gabrielle Widjaja (a.k.a. Gentle Oriental), a multifaceted creative who has developed a unique style and point of view through their passion for art. Their journey began at a young age when they would spend hours every day copying comic strips and drawing fan art. As they grew older, their fascination with art evolved, leading them to pursue a bachelor’s degree in graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). They describe themselves as a “Queer Chindo making Asian Americana,” using their artwork to explore their background as an Asian American growing up in California and now living in New York.
Their work is a reflection of their personal experiences and their newly acknowledged queer identity. From illustrations to digital art, and even tapestry, Gabrielle has a diverse array of creative mediums they are tapped into. However, they find themselves leaning into tattooing the most. Tattooing has helped Gabrielle find their artistic voice and point of view, and they view it as an honor to contribute to someone’s image and help them love themselves even more. [Name] has also authored a book called ‘WE ARE STILL HERE: A Digital Scrapbook of Asian Resilience,’ which was inspired by the shootings in Georgia in 2021.
Gabrielle navigates the highly saturated and high-content art industry by creating genuine work that means something to them, and they believe that as long as they continue to do this, people will find them. They are constantly exploring new mediums, and their aesthetic sensibilities continue to change and grow with each new experience. Overall, Gabrielle is an artist who is constantly pushing their boundaries and exploring their relationship with their culture and identity through their art.
For the latest installment of Pen & Paper, we spoke to Gabrielle Widjaja to discuss their array of impassioned creative interests that beautifully blend their Queer and Asian American identity. Read the full interview below and head over to their website to learn more.
“I’m exploring art-making about the way my body moves through this world and storytelling through my singular experience.”
Tell us about your creative background. What kickstarted your fascination with art and how has it evolved ever since?
My parents always knew I was a very artistically-inclined child; I would spend hours every day copying Garfield comic strips, drawing tons of fan art of Winx club fairies and Avatar the Last Airbender. My “dream job” when I was a kid was to be a cartoonist. I suppose that’s where my illustration background kind of started! My skills and passion in graphic design were acquired later when I went to school at RISD for my bachelor’s in GD. After graduation I practiced illustration through the creation of my instagram account and since then I’ve been merging my design and illustration sensibilities.
In Instagram you describe yourself as a “Queer Chindo making Asian Americana.” What themes do you explore in your artworks that reference your personal experiences?
I focus mainly on themes of my background as an Asian American who has spent my whole life growing up in California and now living in New York, trying to make sense through my art of my relationship to my culture having grown up so far from it. These days I am also allowing my newly acknowledged queer identity as a bisexual and genderqueer (exploring use of they/them pronouns) to influence my artwork (though most will argue my sapphic desires have always been easter eggs in my work since the very beginning). Coming out has allowed me to make more sense of the things I create and the way my mind works, and I’m exploring art-making about the way my body moves through this world and storytelling through my singular experience (that is potentially shared by and resonated with many).
“Tattoos are truly transformative to the self, as I’ve personally found.”
From illustrations to digital art and also tapestry. You are tapped in a diverse array of creative mediums. Which medium do you find yourself leaning into the most and why?
Tattooing is one of my favorite mediums thus far; using the body as a responsive and dynamic canvas is beautiful. And of course, the fact that my work living as tattoos means people resonate with my artwork enough to want it on them forever… that’s one of the biggest compliments I can think of. I also think it’s a huge responsibility and honor to contribute to someone’s image, helping to adorn people into the best versions of themselves and help them love themselves even more. Tattoos are truly transformative to the self, as I’ve personally found.
Tattooing also helped me find my artistic voice and point of view. Before I started tattooing I wasn’t drawing the way I draw now for flash (pre-drawn tattoo designs) in small vignettes/ideas. Previously (maybe because of my background in design) I thought everything I made had to have such a weight, meaning, presence before it could be birthed into the world. Making tattoo flash made me realize people still want and identify with the smaller ideas; the half-finished, unrealized, abstract, nonsensical ideas. That is what allowed my imagination to take over, drawing fantastical portals, landscapes, feelings that I can’t explain so I draw into shapes and moments instead.
“I wanted to make a small token that could hold people through this difficult time and remind us why we are proud to be who we are, in a time when we are made to feel unsafe.”
How about other mediums?
Other mediums I also love are embroidery/cross-stitch, digital illustration, merch design (I’ve made matchboxes, lighters, T-shirts, etc) and I’m interested in exploring rug tufting, knitting, sculpting, painting, ceramics… what’s fun about being an artist is seeing how your POV can translate across many different execution modes.
You also authored a book called ‘WE ARE STILL HERE: A Digital Scrapbook of Asian Resilience.’ What spurred you to create this book and what are some important takeaways from the book that we can share with our readers?
That book is incredibly special to me; I only take credit for curating the stories and laying out/designing the pages. The content belongs to the world and the narratives I collected were from people online who submitted family photos and stories about why they are proud to be Asian. I came up with the idea to collect them right after the shootings in Georgia in 2021 that continue to be remembered by our community. It was a particularly difficult time to be Asian American (though, it always has been and continues to be a struggle). I wanted to make a small token that could hold people through this difficult time and remind us why we are proud to be who we are, in a time when we are made to feel unsafe.
“I like that viewers remain as dynamic as my art.”
As a multifaceted creative, how do you navigate such a saturated and high-content art industry?
I think coming up with your own unique style or point of view is important. But I try not to worry about “standing out” too much; as long as what I’m making is genuine and it means something to me, it will mean something to others and people will find me. I think I also have worked hard to carve out my own space in terms of my aesthetic sensibilities, though it will always continue to change and grow. I expect my audience to shift in the same ways. There are people who’ve stayed with me since the very beginning of my journey, and some that may not resonate with the evolution of my art and that’s okay. I like that viewers remain as dynamic as my art.
I used to also worry a lot about making, making, making content, literally anything to post on Instagram. These days since the algorithm has gotten pretty nasty I have completely given up on relying on that. I just make something when I feel like it / when I feel a spark, post it, close the app. I think people will remember one great thing I posted in 6 months that really spoke to them, not so much 6 average drawings I created for the sake of posting that didn’t mean much to me. One day I just had the thought that I started my IG account to share my art, and it had become twisted and backwards to make my art in order to further likes/comments/views. I wanted to go back to my roots.
What are your own personal solutions when it comes to getting out of a creative block?
Most people won’t have noticed (or maybe they will) but I went through a year-long (maybe longer) artist block from the end of 2021 through 2022. I can confidently say that I feel I’m out of it right now, feeling renewed and having more ideas these days.
Artist block, I’ve learned, can appear in different forms (long/short/creative/technical). You would think “artist block” lasts what, a few hours, a week? I had a year-long creative and technical burn-out and felt a lot of shame about it. I couldn’t think of good ideas that I enjoyed and I felt like my execution was stalling. I look back at 2022 and realized how much I had overworked myself and put pressure on myself to continue making. What helped me the most was taking a long break from tattooing in the winter, which freed up a ton of time. I also had my first solo show at the end of 2022 (Gestures, in collaboration with Artbean Coffee Roasters in Chinatown Manhattan) which helped me work towards a creative goal. I also realized I had lost some of the joy in my making through all that pressure; I had opened a new tattoo studio with friends, was running a business full-time through that, continuing to tattoo, work a full-time job from 9-5, and somehow expected myself to come up with new artwork on top of all that. It was very unsustainable but sometimes it takes breaking to know what needs fixing. Taking some long, serious time for yourself to rest is so important.
Over the winter of 2022 (and now) I have set stronger boundaries for my work, and rediscovered what makes me happy just to draw and be comfortable doing it “just for fun” again. And if I draw something just for fun that happens to look great enough to post, then I will post it.
“People generally seek me out specifically to do the type of work I like to do, which certainly helps.”
How do you approach commercial projects and commissions? And how do you balance your personal artistry with client requests?
The client requests I’ve received thus far have always been in line with my aesthetics. People generally seek me out specifically to do the type of work I like to do, which certainly helps. I consider those projects + my personal artistry one and the same.
When I was freelancing for most of 2021, I would tattoo 2 days a week and spend the other 3 days working on graphic design/illustration commissions. I worked with Wing on Wo & Co on a risograph-printed zine about porcelain, and designed a book from front to back cover and every page inside (Uplifted, a book by Asian Hustle Network & Geena Chen about Asian American entrepreneurial origin stories), amongst others. I try to curate the projects I take to further my practice and make new types of things I haven’t made before. I look forward to returning to freelance and commission-based work soon.
Speaking of collaborations, tell us about your upcoming limited-edition collaboration with Sabah.
This collaboration could not have been more perfect! The Sabah brand is one of my favorite shoes. One of my best friends from college (who also lives 10m away from me here in Brooklyn) works at Sabah and had the idea for me to design zodiac animals to be painted on the red leather Sabah shoes. I think my designs and the Sabah shoes go well together because these shoes are inspired by the shoe shape of a lot of cultures in the East (my black suede Sabahs are my favorite everyday shoe because they remind me of Wushu shoes).
I also don’t get the opportunity to make physical goods much, so being able to paint my own designs on the shoes was fun. Sabah also commissioned a red envelope design, which was very on brand for me!
“I am hoping I’ll be able to tattoo more this year than last year, at the very least!”
Do you have any other upcoming projects that you want to share?
Not particularly– this year I’m just allowing whatever comes my way to come. I haven’t quite planned anything new yet, just taking things as they come. I am hoping I’ll be able to tattoo more this year than last year, at the very least!
How do you typically celebrate the Lunar New Year?
This year (as we do every year) I have a huge feast with my friend group (essentially my chosen family) and Elaine (from Sabah) and I spend hours cooking many dishes including her family recipe of lobster noodles and we pick up 2 fresh live lobsters from Greenpoint Lobster & Co. I also look forward to participating in the energy of the festivities in Chinatown during the weekends following.
Photos courtesy of Antonia Young, Haley Cao, Mischelle Moy, Sabah, Vanessa Le, Dawang New York, Everpress, Throw and Co, Wing on Wo, Sam Wu, Tanya Komrosky and Keith Estiler of HypeArt.
