Meet Clar Angkasa | Author-Illustrator & Animator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Clar Angkasa and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Clar, why did you pursue a creative career?
I’ve loved drawing from the moment I picked up my first colored pencil and I never stopped loving it. When I was a child, adults would ask what I wanted to be when I grew up and I would always say the same thing: I want to be an artist.

To me, art was a form of escape and expression. Sometimes the world would get too frustrating, too noisy, too chaotic, so I turn to my art for some peace and quiet. Growing up, I was anxious and depressed (still am) and with limited resources to properly deal with my mental and emotional health, I bottled up a lot of unhealthy thoughts and messy emotions. For the longest time, I was very unhappy but being able to rely on art kept me going. I couldn’t find the words to express how I felt so I illustrated them instead and each time I did, I felt better.

Even today, as an adult, my art still acts like a safe place for when everything feels too overwhelming and words aren’t enough to express what I need to say.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I first applied to art school with the intention of majoring in animation because I was obsessed with Disney and Pixar. When it was time to declare my major at RISD, I realized that what I fell in love with wasn’t the animation, but the storytelling. I decided to major in Illustration, where I could tell stories in all forms – posters, picture books, comics, animations, etc – and even dabble in writing, which I’ve always been interested in. It was the perfect direction for me because I’m the type of person who always wants to do so many things at once.

I want to make animations, I want to write my own graphic novel, I want to illustrate for brands, I want to sell my art at craft fairs. So that’s what I’m doing now.

I got to where I am today through a combination of persistence, good timing, and luck. I graduated June 2019 and decided to move to New York. I was lucky enough that I had parents who could financially support me so I was able to focus on starting my career. As an international student, I had a year after graduation to look for employment (and then have to deal with transitioning into an entirely different visa, which is a whole other journey full of struggles). I spent most of that year writing cover letters and resumes, editing job applications, going to networking events, emailing anyone and anything for any opportunities befitting of a desperate 22-year-old who just wants a job related to her field of study so she doesn’t have to leave the country.

It wasn’t until March 2020 when my creative career finally took off. I heard from a friend who heard from his roommate that Holler, a company that makes messaging stickers, was looking for an animator. This was actually a company I had been interested in since college but was unable to intern with after graduation due to visa issues at the time. After hearing there was a job opening, I immediately emailed them. Within a week, I went in for an interview, got the job, had my first day in the office, and was told to work from home after the second day. And that was how I landed a full-time job right before the whole world shut down due to the pandemic.

The hustling I did when I first moved to New York paid off in other ways as well. Before Holler, I was doing freelance work, taking on small clients here and there, and even started selling my work at local craft fairs. This allowed me to build my portfolio and network, which opened the doors to many new opportunities. The one I’m most excited about began when an editor at Holiday House, a publishing company, reached out to me and asked if I was interested in working in publishing. I most definitely was and happened to have a pitch ready from a project I started at school about Indonesian folktales. Now I’m working on my debut graphic novel, Stories of the Islands, which is slated to be published Fall 2023.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Whenever I plan an itinerary, it will mostly focus on food. Especially since New York City is such a melting pot of cultures, there’s never a shortage of cuisine options. I could take them to get all-you-can-eat kbbq in Koreatown, traditional Filipino specialties in Lower East Side, Japanese-Peruvian fare in Greenwich Village, Parisian desserts in Midtown, and various dollar slice pizzas and happy hours all over the city. My Google Maps is full of food spots that I’ve marked as “Want to go” so this would also be an opportunity for me to finally go to all these places.

Outside of food, there’s always a lot of things happening in the city that caters to all sorts of interests. From the top of my head, I can think of several drink and draw events, weekend markets, gallery shows of local artists, pay-what-you-wish museums, bars that host trivia nights and comedy shows, and so much more. One thing I recently started doing is entering Broadway lotteries. I love watching Broadway shows, especially when the tickets are affordable, so if I have a friend or family visiting, I would enter us into all sorts of lotteries while they’re here.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I was extremely lucky that when I was growing up, I was surrounded by family who not only supported my dream to be an artist, but actively encouraged and provided resources to nurture it. My grandpa played the largest role in leading me to where I am today in my career. He was an architect, an artist, and my very first inspiration. When I was really young, he would always bring me sketchpads and colored markers so we could create together. He taught me how to draw, taught me how to use colors boldly, taught me how to translate my thoughts into various images. He would give me the tools, and I would do my best to make him proud. Every time I showed off my new work, people would say “Wow, you really are your grandpa’s granddaughter,” and I took those words to heart each time. I’ve progressed a lot since that very first sketchpad but every new work I make, I still make in the hopes of making him proud.

I also have a lot of friends to thank for shaping me into the person I am today. Art school can be brutal at times, from multiple all-nighters to soul-crushing crits to mentally-draining assignments, and I never would’ve survived those trials without the support of some really good friends. The community I had at RISD, especially in the Illustration department, helped me grow not only as an artist, but as a person. I was surrounded by so many talented people who come from different backgrounds and are each unique in their own way. Being exposed to so much diversity and acceptance made me realize that being different is a strength. It was such a nice refreshing change from high school where conformity was the way to go and straying from the expected path is frowned upon. Speaking of high school, I can’t forget to mention my two high school best friends who to this day, are still one of my main support systems. Living in three separate continents hasn’t stopped us from having bimonthly 4-hour Skype sessions where we update each other on our most recent struggles and shenanigans. The three of us have learned a lot from each other and we’ve definitely grown a lot since our angsty teen days of hating everyone and everything.

Website: https://clarangkasa.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clarangkasa/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clar-angkasa-484910113