Meet Carol Jiang

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Carol Jiang. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Carol below.

Carol, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

I believe that perceiving oneself and the world is the fundamental key to creativity. It’s only when you develop a strong feeling about something that you experience an urge, an ‘I absolutely must express this’ impulse, and that’s the wellspring of creation.

This feeling can be very small and tangible, like when I created the ‘New York Memories’ series. That work stemmed from the moments of connection or alienation I felt while living in New York City. This feeling could also be a more abstract concept. For example, I find the human concept of ‘morality’ towards animals to be quite ironic, which drove me to create ‘Anatomy of The Bloom,’ a series related to nature, cycles, and the interplay of life and death.

In any case, maintaining sensitivity, perceiving, and then reflecting – when a certain feeling accumulates to a certain point, creative power will burst forth from within.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m an illustrator and visual artist currently working freelance across various creative fields. My practice encompasses narrative illustration, pattern and motif design, as well as decorative visual series. In my work, I tend to combine intricate linework with narrative structures, focusing on the integration of cultural symbols, conceptual expression, and everyday aesthetics.

While continuously expanding my artistic language and collaborative avenues, I remain dedicated to exploring a mode of expression that is both visually captivating and intellectually engaging. I believe that images can convey moments of perception that transcend language, presenting the creator’s spirit and perspective in a genuine and concise way.

As an Asian artist based in New York, I hope my work can bridge cultural divides and evoke a more direct visual resonance. Recently, I completed a series of illustrations inspired by Japanese Ukiyo-e triptychs, which was selected for the 2025 SVA Illustration & Comics Senior Show. Concurrently, I’m also collaborating with fellow artists on developing a creative culture brand originating in New York, with a planned launch in the latter half of this year.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

While everyone approaches creation differently, for me, the three most crucial qualities are dedication, authenticity, and courage.

Dedication, to me, means an uncompromising commitment to each piece. It’s about facing every work with my full effort, consciously setting aside concerns about time, energy, or perceived cost-effectiveness. Only when I can honestly say, ‘I’ve given this my absolute best,’ do I feel I’ve truly honored my identity as a creator. It’s through this consistent dedication that genuine progress unfolds, one effort at a time.

Authenticity involves being truthful to my own feelings, without pretense or affectation. Even if an initial idea strikes me as foolish or cliché, if upon exploration I still feel a genuine conviction to express it, then the resulting work will inevitably be infused with my unique emotions and insights. Inauthentic expression can devolve into hollow slogans, whereas sincere expression is what shapes an artist.

Finally, courage is the ability to accept both my own imperfections and the imperfections in my creations. It’s the courage that allows me to pick up the pen, to face the blank canvas or the unfinished piece. Courage instills in a creator the confidence to look ahead and to not fear the stumbles along the way. It’s with this underlying courage that a creator can persevere, consistently applying dedication and authenticity to every work.

Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?

I don’t believe creators should confine themselves to a specific definition or so-called ‘area of expertise.’ While I naturally feel most comfortable within the realm of visual language as an illustrator, I also actively experiment with expressing myself through different mediums like ceramics and writing. These cross-disciplinary explorations haven’t diluted my primary skill set; instead, they’ve offered me fresh perspectives and broadened the scope of my creative practice.
I believe that intentionally stepping outside one’s comfort zone is essential for creators. When operating within a familiar system for an extended period, it’s easy to become trapped in a ‘cocoon’ built of habit, gradually losing sensitivity to the outside world. Engaging anew with seemingly ‘unrelated’ or ‘uncharted’ territories can reignite long-dormant curiosity and observational skills.
For instance, I haven’t formally studied biology since middle school, and for a long time, I couldn’t even distinguish between a crow and a raven. However, inspired by a friend, I began reading books and interesting facts about natural ecology – from how cheetahs store food to the preferred soil environments of carnivorous plants. This knowledge, initially foreign and seemingly ‘useless’ to me, unexpectedly became a source of inspiration for my recent work. It was precisely this proactive engagement with a ‘non-expert’ area that led to the series of illustrations I’m most satisfied with from the first half of this year. It’s this openness to unfamiliar fields that allows me to continually grow and maintain a vibrant sense of perception.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.caroljiangart.com/
• Instagram: @caroljiang_art
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroljiangart/
• Other: xiaohongshu (little red book): 9506591134 (id: 関東春雨傘)