Taipei, Taiwan

SMALLTALK is Taipei’s Annie Li, an illustrator whose style is indebted to children’s books from yesteryear. Her style is unique in its wry sense of humor, featuring a rotating cast of extraterrestrial creatures whose presence belies a darker meaning. Annie’s trademark blue alien represents tarot’s The Fool, a being of infinite possibilities who imparts lessons and stories to the human children in Annie’s drawings. Another recurring theme in her work is the unifying force of food - something that is explored in-depth in this month’s volume. Annie’s illustrations have been commissioned for editorials that range from Business Week to Bandcamp. She is also steeped in zine culture, with two different volumes available for purchase on her website alongside shirts, prints, and keychains that feature her work.