Ever since I was a little boy I’ve been fantasizing about how I might illustrate Lewis Carroll’s poem, Jabberwocky. There’s something about the darkness, humour, and incredible imagery of that work that begs multiple interpretations in the visual art world. Fast forward to January 2019 when I’ve finally completed the first of a series of ink drawings that will bring to life my own version of Carroll’s classic — Japawocky, a poem of my creation that combines the wondrous lunacy of the Carroll original with the macabre folktales taught to me by my Japanese Canadian mother: stories of shapeshifting kitsune, doom-foretelling hinotama, and sinister kappa. The poem itself is yet to be released publicly (read: I’m still editing it), but I’m quite happy with how this ink drawing sets the tone for some monstrous shenanigans, all viewed through a Japanese Canadian lens.