'The New Yorker' cover strikes a chord with wary Asian Americans

R. Kikuo Johnson's illustration on the cover of The New Yorker struck an emotional chord with Asian Americans. Terms describe the cover as "gut-wrenching" and "heartbreaking."

The Hawaii-born artist work on the cover the magazine's April 5 edition shows an Asian American mother and daughter holding hands waiting for a subway train. Their body language and eyes conveys a sense of tension and anxiousness. 

In his research for the comicbook-like illustration, Johnson reviewed the articles about the attacks on AAPI. 

“As I absorbed one account after another, they became increasingly difficult to read. So many mothers and grandmothers have been targeted,” he told HuffPost. “I imagined my own mom in that situation. I thought about my grandma and my aunt, who have been among my greatest sources of support. The mother in the drawing is made up of all these women.”

The artist, who has illustrated comic books and graphic novels, said that as a storyteller, the illustration he chose for the cover, "this image seemed to best capture the moment.”

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In an interview with The New Yorker, Johnson explained, "Once I arrived at the dark-gray shadow descending from the top, the whole mood of the piece fell into place. The position of the mother’s feet and eyebrows was what required the most finessing. I wanted a gesture that was somewhere between vigilant and fearful."

The subtly powerful cover illustration connected with a number of AAPI.

On Twitter, Jiayang Fan commented:

I can’t stop staring at this cover. I can’t stop wondering who would come to this mother-daughter pair’s aid if someone attacked them. I can’t stop thinking I was once the daughter and how helpless I still feel to protect my mother.

Johnson first gained notice in 2005 with the publication of his debut graphic novel, "Night Fisher," a Hawaiian coming of age tale.

Its not the first time The New Yorker called on Johnson to do a cover. His cover illustration, "Safe Travels" (below) won a Gold Medal in 2018 from the Society of Illustrators. He's done several covers since then.

His award-winning drawings regularly appear in books, advertisements, periodicals, and animation, but he may be best known for his covers of the New Yorker Magazine. Johnson now lives in Brooklyn and teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design, his alma mater.

“I fell in love with comic books at a young age and spent my teenage years devouring them and creating my own,” Johnson explains in an interview with Its Nice That.

He credits Maui's rainy weather and his parents for allowing him to spend countless hours drawing at home.

“In college, I started drawing a graphic novel, 'Night Fisher,' which would ultimately become my first significant professional work.” 'Night Fisher’s' success led to much of his other work. 

“Conveniently, many art directors who hire illustrators also read comics, and soon the reputation of 'Night Fisher' earned me gigs as an editorial illustrator. I never intended to make illustration my primary creative outlet,” he explains, “but it was a happy accident that has allowed me to continue to tell stories with drawings”.

The artist R Kikuo Johnson at work.