Nature’s Balancing Act

Petra Holländer is an artist and illustrator from Vienna, Austria. A graduate of the University of Applied Arts Vienna, her work combines bold characters with organic shapes, vibrant colors, and dynamic compositions to bring a sense of joy and ease to current issues.

For her Sketchbook pieces, Holländer explores the subject of balance, a theme that she tells Zócalo has become increasingly important in her life. Her playful collages reflect on the space between work and play, routine and spontaneity, hard and soft. “It is not an either/or,” she explains, “it …

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Picturing Pān-toh

Miki Kuo is a Taiwanese illustrator based in New York. She is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts, and her work has been included in magazines such as Creative Quarterly.

Kuo’s Sketchbook …

Floral Fabrications

Mashanda Lazarus is a Los Angeles-based artist. For their Sketchbook series, Lazarus turned their eye to organic material. “I chose flowers and mosses of significance to base these textile sculptures …

Innovative Extinction

Matt Wood is an illustrator and the co-founder of the cooperative animation team Bad Idea Motion Studios.   

Wood’s Zócalo Sketchbook imagines “what nature might look like if it insisted on innovating …

Shapes of Spring

Tirth Katrodia is an Indian illustrator and visual artist based in London. His studio is called Yatra, which means journey in Sanskrit.

For his Zócalo Sketchbook, Katrodia brings us a vibrant burst of springtime energy. …

Don’t Close the Curtains on Kenya’s Acrobats

They Fly Through the Air and Build Human Pyramids to Tourists’ Delight. But the Performers Struggle for Recognition and Financial Stability

It’s showtime at one of Kenya’s five-star resort hotels.

Tourists from around the world move in small groups to the performance area next to the pool to see the evening’s headliner: …