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 on, prioritizing the materials, process, and intent over the aesthetic outcome,” they tell Zócalo.

Take a close look at each object: What might appear to be leaves reveal themselves to be silk and velvet; stalks and grasses are rendered from cotton and corduroy. “I used vintage fabric samples, scraps from altered pants, and other materials I had been hoarding,” Lazarus explains. …

Drawing in the Time of Cut Flowers

On Grief, Loss, and Renewal in the Wake of the Pandemic

My first instinct when my grandma died was to purchase and draw flowers for her. A traditional gesture of sympathy, the flowers seemed fitting—but the circumstances were unprecedented.

It was April …

Blooming Smiles

Keiko Nabila Yamazaki is a Japanese Indonesian illustrator based in New York City. She specializes in vibrant and whimsical illustration, reminiscent of the Western and Japanese cartoons she watched as …

Priceless Nature

Tzasná Pérez Espinosa is a Mexican American designer and artist. A graduate of ArtCenter College of Design, they have worked on visual projects around equity, sustainability, health, and LGBTQIA+ rights.

For …

Cybernetic Flowers

Sofia Pusa is a multidisciplinary creative director and illustrator based in London.

For her Zócalo Sketchbook, Pusa gives us an array of crisp, cybernetic flowers to herald the arrival of spring. Note her …

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Butterfly Vacation

Mercedes Padró is a graphic designer and illustrator based in Illinois. With a paintbrush in hand, she creates whimsical and vivid pieces that visualize the world as she sees it. …