Tenzin Tsering on Wrath, Identity, and the Rubin Grant

Tenzin Tsering, an illustrator and 2D artist of Tibetan Filipino descent residing in Toronto, Canada, has received a Rubin Grant from the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art. In a conversation with digital editor Christina Watson, Tsering elaborates on her artistic approach for the comic featured in the wrath edition of Spiral, which interprets wrath through the lens of loss and grief. The narrative centers on a character named Bellie, who opts for kindness instead of destruction, portraying Lord Yama as a kind deity. Influenced by her father's tales of Tibet, Tibetan and Himalayan artistic elements, and her identity as a Canadian of Tibetan and Filipino lineage, Tsering also admires Hayao Miyazaki from Studio Ghibli. The Rubin Grant will enable her to focus on her own graphic novel, aiming to present modern cultural representations of Tibetan and Himalayan heritage and share her experiences as a second-generation Southeast Asian woman.