In this episode of “Carolyn Talks…” I spoke with Vancouver storyboard artist, writer, and illustrator Pearl Low about her work on the Oscar-winning animated short film Hair Love, and how art helps Pearl to see herself in a new way.
In her autobiographical comic, TENSION, she depicts her struggle with accepting the texture of her hair due to her biracial heritage and the passive-aggressive bigotry she faced as a young girl and adult in a predominantly white society. For many people of color, our hair defines us as much as our ethnicities and skin color. During our chat, we discussed how learning to love the varying textures and colors can be a learning process that takes years, but once we embrace our hair, there’s a sense of pride that can’t be taken away.
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As an artist, Pearl uses her talent to not only connect to her ethnicity by depicting the things she struggles with, it helps her to view food in new ways. Pearl uses her art to explore how food also plays a part in connecting with her roots.
About Pearl 
Pearl Low is an Afro-Asian Oscar-winning story Artist, Illustrator, and Comics Artist based in Vancouver, BC. Most of her works are rooted in themes of self-love, acceptance, and Chinese-Canadian and Caribbean-Canadian experiences. Low primarily works in animation for TV and Feature film, but has also self-published an autobiographical comic called “TENSION” that explores how to love and accept one’s own curly hair through the lens of an Afro-Asian woman.
