“I was very surprised. It’s a bit difficult to describe because I have not processed it yet,” Eng, 25, told FMT Lifestyle.
“But I must say photographer Jeffry Lim and makeup artist Ayang Kamell were very nice people to work with, considering I’ve never done a photoshoot before and felt a bit awkward doing it. My sister and her fiancé were also there to cheer me on. It was a fun experience!”
The Batu Pahat, Johor-based artist shot into the spotlight in 2019, when she published her webcomic “Fried Rice” on the microblogging platform Tumblr.
A work of semi-autobiographical fiction, it tells the story of Min, a 17-year-old girl who visits her cousin, Lilly, in KL. Both plan to study overseas – Min dreams of becoming an animator – but have very different plans for what comes later.
“Fried Rice” was inspired by Eng’s real-life experiences: in 2016, she was celebrating Chinese New Year with her family when she received a rejection email from the arts school she had applied to.
This stayed with her so much that, in 2019, as she was applying to university, the memories resurfaced.
“It was so bittersweet: there I was, let down over a dream I’d had while being surrounded by good food, and family and friends. I thought that juxtaposition might make for a good story,” Eng recalled.
“Fried Rice” was met with critical acclaim: it won the Eisner Award for Best Webcomic in 2020, making Eng the country’s first-ever Eisner winner. The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic-book industry.
The comic was recently collected into a print version, self-published by Eng and distributed by Gerakbudaya.
Eng began drawing at age two and writing stories at five. Reading and drawing, she said, were frequently her forms of escape: she often felt “disenchanted” and “slightly detached from reality” as a child.
Yet, Eng used “Fried Rice” not as a form of escape from reality but as a way to confront it – albeit in a “quiet” way.
“I wanted to write a story that someone might want to live in but could walk away from without having felt like their worldview was changed completely,” she explained.
Inspiration came from graphic novels such as “This One Summer” by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki, “On a Sunbeam” by Tillie Walden, and “The Contradictions” by Sophie Yanow.
“Pacing-wise, (French film director) Eric Rohmer might have had the greatest influence. Whenever I felt stuck with writing, I’d watch a scene from one of his films to remind myself of the type of story I was trying to write.
“I really wanted the story to feel like you were watching it unfold in front of you.”
But why tell stories through comics to begin with? Eng confesses to not being entirely confident in her writing skills.
“I can’t write beautiful and descriptive things and I struggle to create suspense with words. I’m not that great of a filmmaker or photographer, either.
“I’ve always felt the most comfortable with a pencil and paper – it’s the language I speak most fluently,” she said, adding that she would love to experiment with other forms someday.
Right now, she is working on “Beloved”, a slice-of-life webcomic about faith and growing up. She also recently completed a short story for the Philippines International Comics Festival, so fans can look out for that!
Asked her thoughts on the local comics landscape, Eng believes there is a lot of pressure to be marketable as an artist because of how competitive and small the industry is.
She also opines that creating art solely for profit is a surefire way to kill creativity and originality.
“Hopefully, by staying authentic and firm to my values, I can help people see there is a way to be an artist who creates from the heart,” she concluded.
For more information on Erica Eng, visit her website. Also follow her on Facebook and Instagram.