Artist Yumi Sakugawa will present her live art at our Bittersweet Issue teaser party this Saturday.

Ready, L.A.? For the first time ever, Hyphen is throwing an issue teaser party in your neck of the woods. Little Tokyo will soon play host to our amazing lineup of performers, special guests, surprise appearances, and tons of giveaways. You’ve been waiting -- now don’t miss it.

We're getting tons of great responses in the run-up to the event, and have been sharing details over the last week -- so scroll back through the blog if you need to get caught up on who’s going to be spinning tunes, creating art, and dropping rhymes for you at Chop Suey tomorrow, May 7!

Yumi Sakugawa is an artist after our own heart. Her creations always engage and amuse, whether it's her paintings, illustrations, or the heart-on-her-sleeve comics she frequently publishes on tumblr -- artistic vignettes of the little joys and sadnesses of everyday life.

As an "artist, illustrator, and visual storyteller," Yumi is a jill-of-all-trades, but her passion currently lies in comic books. "I’m really inspired by how versatile the medium is right now," Yumi says. "It’s amazing how people [are really open to] this new form of telling their stories."

Inspired and influenced by the work of Jillian Tamaki, Adrian Tomine, and Alison Bechdel, Yumi is aiming to put together a short story comic book by the end of the year.

"I’ve always loved drawing since I was a kid," she adds. "I studied art at UCLA and ever since then I more or less continued doing it."

Yumi anchors her work with bold visual narratives that are funny, touching and always from the heart.

***

Catch Yumi Sakugawa and her live art at our Bittersweet Issue teaser party in L.A., this Saturday!