Amaranthia Sepia

Artist Statement

My early childhood heavily influences my artwork; I lived in Tokyo, Japan, between the ages of 4 and 6. Living in a society that practices Shintoism and Buddhism while born into a family practicing Japanese Buddhism caused my artwork to be heavily influenced by spirituality, Japanese mythology/yokai, and Buddhist philosophy. Ink pens combined with digital art are my primary medium. After returning from Japan to New England, the reverse culture shock was severe. I was always the odd one out. Being one of the only Black girls in an all-white school, especially a Black girl who was part of a religious minority, made it so my only reliable friend was art. I decided to take on comic art and character design based on Japanese folklore and yokai I was exposed to in Tokyo. At age 13, I became homeschooled online due to severe racial trauma and bullying due to living in a majority white community. As I slowly became learn about my invisible illnesses - low cortisol, racial trauma, panic disorder, C-PTSD, and agoraphobia, my experiences with trauma and racism slowly seeped into my work. My anxiety disorder diagnosis at age 17 finally pushed me to blatantly express my experiences, which led to my mental health/anxiety disorder comic, "Emo Bunny: Anxiety Monster," and my mental health series, "Hidden Demons of Anxiety." I incorporated my childhood fascination with Japanese demons and monsters into these projects as a way to express how terrifying and isolating it is to live with chronic anxiety and trauma.