02 — Char Austria

Written by Ava Austria ✦ 7/31/2025

Char Austria, hailing from the Bay Area, is an accomplished and insightful visual artist who finds her strong suit in filmmaking, specializing in lino cut and screen printing. As an artist, Char aims to expand social and political advocacy across various forms of media, spreading messages she’s passionate about through her work. 

Much of her art contains messages derived from the Filipino youth organization, Anakbayan, which is dedicated to the belief that Philippine society today is not truly free nor democratic. Anakbayan, in particular, was what sparked Char’s true passion for creating.

When asked about her journey as an artist, Char said, “I’ve been doing art since I was a kid, I feel like I’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember. I feel like growing up, it was mostly drawing, and a little bit of painting, like watercolor. I did oil classes in college for a little bit, but it wasn’t until I joined this political organization, a Filipino youth organization, where I was actually introduced to printmaking. It was just a random project to make merch to sell, but they made a lino block and asked me to help with it. I liked it because it was a very community-oriented process, and I was doing it with multiple people, versus just drawing and painting on my own. From there, I kind of just started doing lino blocks on my own.”

Char’s gravitation towards being very community-oriented also stems from her background in the Bay Area, mentioning that, “Growing up in the Bay, I think in terms of how it affects my work, I think because a lot of my work is about Filipinos, the Philippines, and the social conditions of Filipinos in the Philippines and here, I think growing up in the Bay I grew up closer to my family, because that’s where most of my family migrated, it wasn’t a super complex connection, but I stay connected to the culture and my family history.”

Along with Anakbayan, Char‘s art also draws inspiration from numerous historical periods, stating that, “I try to grab from bigger trends, especially historical periods. Because printmaking is a very political art form, I’m drawn to a lot of eras in history where printmaking was a very important aspect of preserving history. I think especially in places like Korea, or even Cuba, or Mexico. Printmaking is very huge, and I like looking at different countries as a whole.” 

Her work can be found at @hawkingroses on Instagram!

01 — Carrie Liang

Written by Jewel Hou ✦ 7/30/2025

Carrie Liang is a brilliant, extraordinarily thoughtful student writer from Canada. She started writing as a way to find her sense of self and the world, and it quickly became her earnest passion. Despite being a wordsmith themselves, Carrie is strongly inspired by the things one can’t quite place into sentences – “quiet grief, overlooked intimacy, generational memory, the complexities of language and silence”.

She is also deeply inspired by her environment and the art of the world, noting that, “every piece of art I stumble across leaves some kind of mark”. Moreover, coming from a multicultural community, Carrie had always been aware of issues involving cultural and linguistic erasure – especially concerning Indigenous peoples. The inconsistencies of their community when it comes to creating safe spaces for diverse cultures has inspired them to comment on such contradictions through their work.

When asked about what motivates her, Carrie says, “the idea that someone might read something I wrote and feel a little less alone.” She values the ability of her work to connect to others beyond a conversation. They also find joy when their pieces evoke new perspectives and emotions from readers. Aside from that, writing is deeply meaningful to Carrie as a person. “It’s how I metabolize the world,” the writer explains.

Carrie’s favorite writing form is the unapologetic, messy yet precise, poetry. They also enjoy writing fragmented narratives and combining prose and verse in their pieces.

“You can find my works on my substack, though it's in desperate need of a rebrand. You can also support my literary magazine that I run with a small team, find us @aetheriumliterary on Instagram! We don't have a website just yet, but most of our information can be found through the Linktree in our bio. Any support means a lot to me, and I hope to broaden my horizons in the literary world soon!” - Carrie