Billie Snippet is a Korean-American illustrator and the co-founder of Uchuu Summer, an apparel and accessories label inspired by summer, nostalgia, and space. Similar to the aesthetic of Uchuu Summer, her illustrations are bright and colorful, featuring a world of (mostly male) character who like to show off their playful, nostalgic, and sensual sides. Her inspiration comes from many sources – including manga and anime from the 80s and 90s, cartoons from her childhood, children’s illustrations, vaporwave music, and fashion photography.
Billie Snippet 是一位美籍韩裔插画家，同时也是 Uchuu Summer 品牌的共同创始人，这个时尚品牌充满了夏季、怀旧和太空的意象。Billie 的插画风格与 Uchuu Summer 品牌相似，同样明亮而多彩。在她的插画世界里，主角大部分都是一些乐于展现其俏皮个性、怀旧情绪和感性一面的男性角色。她的灵感来源很丰富，包括了 80、90年代的漫画和插图、小时候看的动漫和漫画、儿童插画、蒸汽波（Vaporwave）音乐和时尚摄影等等。
Billie wasn’t always set on becoming an artist. She shares with us, “When I was in elementary school, I was the quiet child in my class that was always drawing. However, until high school, I only treated it as a hobby, because I was undecided between being an artist or a writer.”
After deciding to pursue a career in the arts, she first went into a program in Fine Arts at the University of California Santa Barbara, and then transferred to a program in Illustration at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) after two years. During her college days, she began selling her illustrations at anime conventions, mostly offering books, goods, and her self-published doujinshi works. Building on her entrepreneurial success, In 2016, she founded the Uchuu Summer label with friend and fellow illustrator Gabrielle Howitz.
Billie 不是从小就立志成为一名艺术家。她与我们分享道：“小时候，我是班上比较安静的小孩，总是埋头在画画。在高中之前，我一直只是把画画当作一种爱好，因为我还未决定好要成为一名艺术家还是作家。 ”
下定决心从事艺术工作之后，她先是进入加州大学圣巴巴拉分校修读艺术专业，然后在两年后转到马里兰艺术学院（MICA）攻读插画专业。大学时期，她开始在动漫大会上出售自己的插图作品，主要是一些书、商品和自己出版的同人志作品。有了这些初期创业的经验，2016 年，她与她的插画家朋友 Gabrielle Howitz 一起创立了 Uchuu Summer 品牌。
While Billie works mostly digitally in Adobe Photoshop CC nowadays, she’s equally adept with traditional mediums like watercolor and ink. Regardless of medium, the images she creates have a distinct aesthetic with an overarching theme of male vulnerability.
“Vulnerability is a trait I find attractive and fascinating in people because it exposes their true self,” she shares with us. “It’s bare and alluring. And it is easier to trust a person that shows vulnerability.” For Billie, her depiction of male characters is a way to break away from stereotypical gender roles. “We live in a world where men are discouraged to show vulnerability. Instead, there is an abundance of vulnerable women in art – to the point where it became a cliché. So it’s more interesting for me to draw vulnerable men.”
虽然 Billie 现在主要采用 Adobe Photoshop CC 创作，但她同样善于使用水彩和墨水等传统材料。无论是用何种媒介创作，她的作品都有一个共同的特别之处：展示男性脆弱的一面。
她解释道：“我觉得，脆弱是一种特别有吸引力和迷人的特质，因为它暴露了每个人最真实的自我，赤裸又诱人。况且， 一个愿意展现出脆弱那一面的人往往比较可信。”对于 Billie 来说，她对男性角色的描绘是摆脱性别偏见的一种方式。“我们生活在一个男性不愿意表现出脆弱的社会里。与此相反的是，在艺术中经常能看到大量女性脆弱的形象。虽然感觉已经有点陈词滥调，但我觉得画脆弱的男性会更有趣。”
Billie continues to self-publish her illustrations, comic books, is currently working on projects for the Uchuu Summer label, which will include a comic that’s planned to be released next year. Uchuu Summer apparel, products, and zines are currently available for purchase at shops in Los Angeles and Tokyo, as well as on Uchuu Summer’s web shop.
除了继续独立出版插画书和漫画书，Billie 目前还正在制作 Uchuu Summer 品牌的项目，其中包括预计明年发行的漫画。想要购买 Uchuu Summer 的服装、产品和杂志，除了可以在洛杉矶和东京的门店里现场购买，也可以到 Uchuu Summer 的在线商店购买。
