 Emma Wang performs at Sound Off! in a self-made dress. Photo credit: MoPOP and @sulu.tzn. By Anya Shukla Listening to Emma Wang perform her original songs at MoPOP’s Sky Church, one might think her jazzy, bright voice comes from the mouth of a 25-year-old, not a girl who’s still in high school. Although she’s been singing for most of her life, Wang’s polished sound has only started opening doors for her this year.
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By Dilinna Ugochukwu “Art is a way to show your voice,” Sofia Antonia Vazquez states. “It’s important that people of different races with different perspectives and cultures get their voices heard through art.” Through her artwork—which can transition from surreal depictions of drowning to realistic drawings against racial inequality—Vazquez shares her passions and ideas with the world.
 Alka Joshi uses her writing to showcase a lesser-known side of India. Photo credit: Garry Bailey. By Anya Shukla In 2020, Alka Joshi—at 62 years old—published her debut novel, “The Henna Artist.” Set in 1950s India, her book caught the world’s attention, becoming a bestseller and Reese’s Book Club pick. Joshi currently has several projects in the works: she received a Netflix deal for a TV adaptation of “The Henna Artist,” published her second book, “The Secret Keeper of Jaipur,” to acclaim in 2021, and is researching a third. That being said, Joshi’s path to this success has been circuitous. She spent the majority of her career in advertising and public relations before getting her MFA in 2008, then took 10 years to perfect her first novel. I spoke with Joshi to learn how her career path impacted her writing and what her first book meant to her.
By Dilinna Ugochukwu With eye-catching color contrasts and intricate detailing, Patteera Sudsok’s work is beautiful, brilliant, and focused on character design. They first started posting their art online in 2016 when they were in middle school, and have since grown a following on social media. When Sudsok first started posting, they were inspired by their love of cartoons. They like to draw fanart inspired by some of their favorite animated shows like “Adventure Time,” “Steven Universe,” “Attack on Titan,” and “Jujutsu Kaisen”; as well as the work of other online artists—with similarly cartoon-esque styles—like Gunzbie and CutiiCosmo. Sudsok’s work employs saturated colors, and can accurately be described as bright and eye-catching. Additionally, perhaps because of their love of animated shows, Sudsok is drawn towards creating character art over environments or backgrounds.
 Who would suspect that behind this smiling face lies the mind of a horror writer? (Photo credit: Mariama Diallo.) By Anya Shukla “When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that I wasn’t in my house. I was in a cold and dark forest. I did not know how or when I got here.” With this eerie first paragraph, Mariama Diallo begins a short piece for class. Her descriptions of her character’s surroundings—old trees, with wood colored “dark, almost like black”; “leaves that crunched with every movement I made”—draw me into the story. Although only 13 (on the younger side of our teen features), she has a talent for the craft.
 "My art comes from and explores the truth: the ugly truth and the beauty of truth as well," says Lash O'Cain. By Anya Shukla Lash O’Cain is drawn to artwork that questions contemporary culture. The 20-year-old press operator is primarily a writer—she creates poetry, songs, short stories, and screenplays— and plans to pursue film at college in the future. Yet despite the diversity of disciplines, O’Cain’s pieces have a clear focus on our shared humanity, her personal identity, and the ways in which the two intersect.
 "If you love what you're doing, just keep doing it," says singer/songwriter Yukta Ramanan. (Photo credit: Yukta Ramanan.) By Anya Shukla “I guess all this is part of living out the American Dream,” Yukta Ramanan sings, her voice sliding smoothly between notes as she riffs. “It’s not what it seems.” These lyrics come from Ramanan’s most recent song, titled on YouTube as “I wrote a song about Black Lives Matter.” Released in 2020, the piece raised awareness for the BLM movement last summer.
 "Hip-hop is such a beautiful outlet for expression," says rapper Aurelio Valdez-Barajas. (Photo credit by Kaysha on Unsplash.) By Anya Shukla Aurelio Valdez-Barajas values meaningful artistry. The Seattle-born rapper incorporates his passion for social justice with his music career: Valdez-Barajas’ verses are steeped in Mexican and Mexican American history. Even as he expands his skillset to include directing and education, Valdez-Barajas continues to use his artistic talents to make an impact.
By Aaron Zhang As a biracial person, Chase Sterling (ze/hir) wants to use hir art to talk about hir identity. But noting hir privilege due to hir light skin, “I’m not sure if I should tell these stories,” ze said. “I think that’s the biggest barrier—my mind.”
By Aaron Zhang “Whenever I owned a color pencil set, there were always ten different shades of colors for white people, but there would only be two browns or one black,” Sameera Parveen recalled. She has faced other racial inequities in daily life—racist comments on YouTube and art videos depicting only white people—but this color pencil observation hurt her the most. “I had to find my own way to mix all the purples, blues, and greens to make the brown or black.”
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