When a gunman opened fire on the Star Dance studio last weekend, the tragedy hit close to home for artist Jonathan Chang.
“I’m usually drawing them as I’m reading the stories, so I keep the image and the emotions at the same time,” Chang said.
These are the victims of the Monterey Park mass shooting through the eyes of artist Jonathan Chang.
“I feel like through art, we can really humanize these individuals and center it around the victims. I feel like people can resonate with that – read these stories and say, hey this person sounds exactly like my mom, sounds like my dad,” Chang said.
The simplistic, cartoon-like artwork is signature for the artist.
His digital drawings went viral at the height of the stop AAPI hate movement, when his work was displayed at New York’s Times Square last year.
But the Lunar New Year’s eve shooting at the Star Dance studio hit differently for the 36-year-old illustrator, whose childhood memories center around the San Gabriel Valley.
“I think for Monterey Park — I had to do it. It’s where I grew up around -…