Meet Jack X. Zhou | Illustrator/Designer/Magician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jack X. Zhou and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jack, what inspires you?
Wooo it is a challenging question since my sources of inspiration are chaotic and usually all over the place! I moved to the States quite young by myself to study abroad and pursue my interest in art. As I spend my youth alone in a foreign land, beside the obvious methods of seeking muse by playing video games like Dark Souls III, listening to Lana Del Rey, reading Tolkien’s novels and watching many, many animes, I have spent quite some time to simply look at things around me and observe the environments I live in! A new world full of strange and curious visuals to a young Chinese boy as I vaguely reminisce about childhood in Hangzhou, my hometown.

The nature certainly draws most of my attention as I was in the rural area when I arrived, ranging from the misty Appalachia under the morning light to the ebb and flow of the East Coast waves. Even today, from time to time, I lose focus just staring at the clouds in the sky, above the dark silhouette of either mountains or cityscapes and am awed by the sharp contrails left by airplanes. I know my muses come in all shapes and forms, but they are all essentially symbolic motifs accompanied with contradictory meanings. In many cases, like the plane and the mountains, I perceive them as symbols representing my entrapment and my yearning for freedom in life.

As a storyteller, I aim for my inspirations to manifest as a distillation of my journey, conveyed symbolically, yet comprehensibly, through shapes and colors. Likewise, this is the essence of how I create my artworks, as this expressive method allows me to navigate thoughts related to childhood memories, homesickness, a quest for belonging, and the nuanced experience of being a first-generation gay Chinese immigrant in the United States.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Well, growing up being a Chinese single child who loves to doodle monsters and flowers, I am very very fortunate to have an extremely supportive mother, which is pretty rare in the early 2000’s China. My passion for art has become the most certain aspect of my life, mainly due to my mom’s unwavering encouragement and my stubbornness in facing schools and mean adults in childhood. So being in the U.S. while having to deal with my cultural diaspora and a war of western and eastern influences in my head, knowing and loving exactly what I want to do is something significantly helpful to my survival and grants me the unforeseen confidence and comfort I never had.

But do I ever feel lost? Do I question what I am doing every once a while? Do I have nightmares about my future as an artist? Of course! College and postgraduate are the perfect moments of life to have existential crises like these. Both academia and the real world have forcibly pulled me out of my comfort zone, putting my passion to the test.

Today, as I am a full time illustrator/designer working at a digital media creative agency, I am very blessed to take this position right out of college. Although I am grateful and love working on big client projects in a collaborative creative environment with inspiring talents, the most challenging part for me is always channeling my art into serving others and defining myself as a functional gear in a large moving machine. However, I have realized the importance of detaching myself from my professional works through design itself. The designing process is precise and meticulous due to its problem solving nature as a service instead of an expression, which protects the art making that I love and is personal to me. I enjoy working in a team and studying the industry with this mindset. I’ve also learned so many valuable skills such as marketing, branding, and presenting my work to the world, allowing me to effectively communicate my stories to a wider audience.

To this day, despite the challenges and uncertainties I’ve faced, knowing that my passion and love for art remains steadfast and untarnished is something I take immense pride in and can comfortably rely on.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Many family members and friends have visited me for the past couple years in the little city of Providence and I have had the experiences to perfect my list of recommendations!

– Summertime Providence is so beautiful around the Providence River area, especially at night because we have the Water Fire Festival almost every two weeks! A festive night where we have the fire pits on the river being lit, music, fire dance, art shops, food trucks, glass blowing and many exciting activities next to the river!
– Going to Wickenden street, grabbing a delicious sandwich at Small Format, and picnicking at the Indian Point Park followed with a nice slow scroll after.
– Having lunch or dinner at one of my favorites, Jahunger, one of the few delicious authentic Xinjiang restaurants I tried in the U.S. Chicken Stew and Mefen is my favorite but if you can eat spicy food we will go somewhere else haha.
– Ive is a great street if you are not a great fan of seeing college students 24/7 haha, Chomp is a great burger and beer place for dinner with your close friends and Kowkow is across the street to grab a delicious egg waffle ice cream for dessert! For late night, Captain Seaweed gives the most exciting experiences of drunk pirates with mermaids.
– As for downtown, there are a couple spots for quick escape room actions around Westminster streets. And PVD noodle bar for lunch. If you reserve ahead of time Oberlin will be the best place to get some whole fish and cheesecake or Palo if you are in the mood for some tapas and drink!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Oof that is a very very long list of people haha! But most importantly, as I mentioned, I won’t even begin this journey without my mom and dad, their faith and belief in me has always been so infectious to people around them. Every relative and friend of my family in China has played a role in supporting my dream since I was young, which has kept me going strong in the U.S..

The creative community I’ve had the privilege to be a part of has also contributed significantly to my personal growth. Peers, colleagues from work, directors, my students, classmates from studio critiques, fellow artists on social media, and most importantly, my teachers and mentors—all have played a crucial role. I’m deeply grateful not only for their support and encouragement but also for the tough lessons and constructive feedback I’ve received. These experiences have all contributed to building my confidence in my skills and myself as a creative individual. I must give a special shoutout to my RISD professor and friend, Joohee Yoon, a dedicated and experienced teacher whom I greatly admire and rely on whenever I face uncertainties about my career. She saw potential in me that I didn’t see myself and helped me nurture and develop it with her expertise, guidance, and sincere industry insights, leading me to achieve many of the dreams I once only imagined.

I’ve always been fascinated by creative minds that craft imaginative worlds through various media. Works like “The Silmarillion” by J.R.R. Tolkien, “Berserk” by Kentaro Miura, and “Elden Ring” by Hidetaka Miyazaki and G.R.R. Martin resonated deeply with me. Kazumasa Nagai’s patterns on animals and Louise Bourgeois’s exploration of symbols have also significantly influenced my artistic journey at different stages. Lastly, pivotal artists such as James Jean and Takashi Murakami have set exemplary standards for what illustrators can achieve in today’s society, inspiring me to push boundaries in my own work.

I am incredibly grateful and proud of how far I’ve come on this artistic journey. Without the inspirations and support from those around me, I cannot even begin to imagine where I would be today.

Website: https://www.jackxzhou.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackx.zhou/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-x-zhou-b012651ba/

Image Credits
Portrait image is credit to Noah Canavan. Thank you!