z. Aletta Ren

柯俚優

 

aletta, or reyook

reyookirkland@hotmail.com

Writer, painter, illustrator, olfactory artist, graphic designer, musician, storyteller, poet, archer, and ad strategist.

Favorite media: Holbein Watercolor, iPad pro + Procreate, Ink

As a multi-media artist and writer, I create works that focus on humanity and the detailed characterization of characters. I study the description of personal encounters and the passion of the soul under the capricious fate. My works mainly take "love and separation" as the theme. I narrative and critic the eccentric ordinary and admire the wispy borderline between different emotions. Through writing, I explore the characters' inner world, and through illustrating, I visually show the variety of complicated and profound emotional activities and psychological states.

Education

  • S.I. Newhouse School Of Public Communications, Syracuse University
    MA Advertising (2022-2023)

  • College of Visual and Performing Arts, Syracuse University
    MFA Illustration (2021-2024)

  • School of the Art Institute Chicago
    BFA Film + Visual Communication + Designed Object (2017-2019)

  • Lehigh University
    BA Philosophy + Architecture (2015-2016)

Publications

Novels

  • The Grassroots (2018), China

  • The Pear Flowers (2018), China

  • Along the Way of Wind (2015), China

Comics

  • The Sound of Us (2021), China. Cooperation with Dong.

  • The Corner (2019), China. Cooperation with Jiaqi Yu.

  • The Grassroots (2019), Japan. Cooperation with Jiaqi Yu.

Illustration for Zines and Novels

  • The Poem of Heart (2021), China

  • Winter Forest (2021), China

  • The Light of Sunset (2021), China

  • Cold Is the Mountain (2020), China

Group Exhibitions

  • Ballad of the Ordinary, Los Angeles, CA - 2023

    Mix-media Collaborative Exhibition

  • Collaborative Comic Book Projects Exhibition, The Communication University of China, Beijing, China - 2018-2019

  • Specks of Earth, Hairpin Gallery, Chicago, IL - 2018
    Mix-media Collaborative Exhibition

  • Olfactory Narrative Installation Exhibition, SAIC, Chicago, IL - 2018

Awards

  • 2022 Japan Kodansha Four Seasons International Comic Competition アフタヌーン四季賞・2022年春・四季賞 Four Seasons Prize

  • 2021 Vinland Saga International Illustration Contest First Place Nomination

  • 2021 New York Poster Project Selected

  • 2019 The L. Ron Hubbard Illustrators of the Future International Contest
    Honorable Mention

  • Merit Scholarship from the School of the Art Institute Chicago and
    Syracuse University

  • Lehigh University Dean's List