Hey, you found me!I'm Lydia Chiu (they/them), a Taiwanese-American illustrator and writer based in NYC who just received my BFA in illustration and BA in literary studies for fiction writing from The New School / Parsons School of Design.I'd say I enjoy telling character-driven stories about community, family, and the passage of time, but it’d be easier and more honest to say that everything I create is about grief. In between projects, you’ll probably find me ice skating, getting tattooed, or rewatching Arrested Development.See more of my art on Instagram @lyderallyme or start a dialogue by reaching out to [email protected]!

Books & Comics

ꔛ*𓈒✦ Comics!

<- Hourly Comic Day 2026

A panel for (mostly) every hour of my Hourly Comic Day, or February 8 every year. Click to expand!

Ambition, 2022 ->

An original short comic grappling with my own aspirations and ambitions (or lack thereof) after first being diagnosed with dysthymia, a long-lasting form of depression.

<- Amateur, 2021

An original webtoon/vertical-scroll style comic that explores effort versus achievement, what it means to be "good," and how it feels to look different from everyone who seems to always get it right.

ꔛ*𓈒✦ One-shot comics!

ꔛ*𓈒✦ Interlude: 2026

My final project at Parsons School of Design, completed December 2025: A 100% risograph-printed artist book, featuring a laser-cut cover and 9 unique risograph ink colors (2-3 colors per page, 3 different colorways) in the style of a narrative poem and 2026 twelve-month calendar. Font written and created by me.Hard cover-bound edition of 2. Wire-bound edition of 40.In an exploration of time as a print medium and as a challenge to myself to draw, print, and produce in a month and a half, I chose to illustrate and write a graphic novel that interacts with a traditional wall calendar format for my most ambitious undergraduate project.Each page is one month, the images representing all the quiet (and loud!) intimacies of the closest friendship I've ever had, the making of a found family, the inevitability and poetry of every 'hello' being a 'goodbye' (as well as the reverse), and both being, nevertheless, 'I love you.'

ꔛ*𓈒✦ Survival Instinct, 2025

My Parsons Illustration thesis project: A 16-page zine, risograph- printed in four colors on tabloid-size cream paper, folded down to 2.5 x 4 inches. Laser-cut bee/wing details. First edition of 8. Second edition of 50.After reading about ecological anachronisms and the grammar of animacy, I wanted to examine specific, complicated kinds of grief through the lens of nature and species extinction, and the flora (cassia grandis, the Joshua tree, the bee orchid) who, despite their long-extinct natural pollinators or predators, live on, continuing to produce fruit or flower that goes unwanted.This is Survival Instinct, a zine and poem about whether or not you'd know instinctively if you were missing something (or someone) you've never had, about grief and nature and extinction and persistence despite, and about, in some ways, asexuality.

^ back to top ^

Stand-alone illustrations & fan-art

^ back to top ^

Editorial Illustration

ꔛ*𓈒✦ Selections from: Love, Lucy

New School Free Press weekly online advice column, a series I illustrated weekly or biweekly for over a year. Older visual direction included title and pull quote, newer excluded. Click image to visit article!

ꔛ*𓈒✦ Selections from: Writes & Bites

New School Free Press series for creative writing advice alongside NYC cafe recommendations. I was the permanent illustrator for this series' final issue. Click image to visit article!

ꔛ*𓈒✦ Selections from: Impromptu

My two submissions to this weekly visual series in which different artists respond to the same prompt, chosen each month by the illustration editor but unknown to readers, whose job is to figure it out by the end of the month. Click for detail and reveal!

ꔛ*𓈒✦ Various articles by the New School Free Press

Includes illustration for opinion and arts & culture desks. Click image to visit article!

Writing & Editing

Survival Instinct

May 2025. 13,160 words.

A 50-page fiction novelette written for my senior capstone at The New School's liberal arts college, and a companion piece to my Parsons Illustration senior thesis. Survival Instinct explores Kane, a gas station cashier working night shifts, who, in his liminal environment and unbecoming process of becoming, doesn't trust himself to know what and how to become. A mysterious hot guy, a new garden, and minor destruction ensues. Nothing Kane can't get over.

As You Left It

Nov. 2024. 3,600 words.

Home. It sits in your stomach like a corpse decomposing, its rotting body unfurling to reveal acrid insides.---Autofiction short story published in Issue 13 (Spring 2025) of The New School’s Eleven and a Half literary magazine.

Looker

Nov 2024. 800 words.

I wanted to tell you I was sorry, but there was nothing I could do.It wasn’t me you didn’t like, was it?---Flash fiction story published in GetLit, the New School Free Press literary column.

This Phantom Song: An Exit West Story

Oct. 2023. 1,190 words.

It was Tuesday—closer to Wednesday—but the mother took a detour toward the mall instead of the hospital because there was a little tug on one of her heartstrings, and as on a string instrument, a melody was threatening to break forth from the introduction of one simple, plucked note...---Autofiction short story in the style of contemporary author Mohsin Hamid, in the world of his novel Exit West.

Left Hanging, or how to open a lock without a key

Sept 2022. 1,300 words.

There’s a moment where we don’t say anything, we just stare, eyes wide, at the locks, some of which hang higher than we can reach, in different colors, different sizes, with different amounts of rust and wear.“Whoa,” I say. “Cool.”---Flash fiction story published in GetLit, the New School Free Press literary column.

ꔛ*𓈒✦ Copy and fact editing selections from The New School Free Press

Articles I'm proudest of completely fact checking and copy editing as Head of Copy for the New School Free Press. Click image to visit article!

Spotify isn’t your friend: How the platform takes your money while artists pay the price

By Leo Abercrombie
Illustration by Betesha Bloise Panciano

A deep-dive into Spotify, how it works for and against listeners and artists alike, and where its profits - your subscription costs - actually end up.

Anna Sui on The Nineties and when the kids took over

By Avery Simmons
Photo by Marina Lee

An interview with global fashion designer and Parsons alum Anna Sui on the process of making her new book, The Nineties X Anna Sui, and the inspiration behind her design work for the past 3 decades.

Here's how Trump's actions affect The New School

By Ronan O'Comartun and Lorenza Stamper
Illustration by Ash Mercado

A tracker of all Donald Trump's actions; from federal aid and grants, to student visas, to diversity, equity, and inclusion; that impact New School students.

Fashion on Fifth: Sole searching

By Cozette Calderon
Illustration by Emma Finley

An article from NSFP's fashion column dedicated to the shoes chosen and styled by Parsons student artists, their history, and what makes them unique.

Four New School professors on the loss of international students

By Zora Edelstein and Pritika Sharma
Illustration by Eva Vladimirov

An interview with four international professors from four unique backgrounds on the impact international students have on the quality of everyone's education.

What you should know as an international student at The New School

By Aly Reiter and Aaron Steinberg
Photo by Dove Williams

A thorough overview of the ways international students at The New School can prepare for and protect against America's increasingly anti-immigrant climate.

Coming soon!