SWRD
Ramblings on Toy Horses
A 130 page book on folk toy horses. The book houses a collection of 50 original drawings based on toy horses I found in online museum archives. The drawings are forewarded by an essay examining the visual culture of toy horses and the significance of play. In the back of the book is an index with information about the artifact each drawing referenced.
There’s Nothing Tiger Balm Can’t Fix
A launch print commerating the launch of Tiger Balm press, a self-publishing press composed of queer Asian graphic designers. It’s trilingual and true!
Two-color (red & kelly green) 11x17” Riso Prints
Wax House
A short comic/visual poem about Paleolithic man and the self, and on connection and the inner garden.
Misc. Risograph Prints
Various risograph prints of varying ink colors.
Mr Television: A Signal / A True Star
A 120 page book on cathode ray tube television. The book is both an educational guide on how these televisions function and the fictional story of TV star Milton Billion. It breaks down seeing through explaining step by step how cathode ray tubes generate electrons, how those electrons generate light, and how the light generates images.
Soothsayer (Take the Wheel the Night is Young)
A 44 page comic/visual poem about an attic, an ouija board, a soothsaying egg, and a beanstalk.
The Rocking Chair and the Vase
Three-color (black, bubblegum, teal) 8x10” Riso Prints
Joan and the Devil
An original illustrated fairytale. In a small town of instrument makers lives Joan, who loves her guitar as much as anything else. However, when a tall, upright man descends upon the town, his devilish secret spirals into a world of misfortune for Joan and the town. It’s a story about music, love, and intimacy, and the way these things are shared.
(Shortlisted in the World Illustration Awards 2025 publishing category)
Experience:
January 2025 – Present
Brooklyn, NYC
SWRD ⚔️ is an art collective made up of designer Sarah Wang and illustrator Ryan Davis.
Sarah Wang (they/she) is a designer and artist from Austin, TX, currently based in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn, NYC). She specializes in print & editorial design and is constantly pushing how physicality can prompt comprehensive human experiences. Most recently they founded Tiger Balm Press, a self-publishing press composed of queer Asian graphic designers.
Ryan Davis (he/him) is an illustrator, designer, and sometimes writer currently based in Norwalk, CT. He is a recent graduate of Washu in St. Louis, receiving a BFA in Communication Design. His work draws inspiration from history, fairy tales and the surreal, using their logic and archetypes to create playful narratives and construct ways of seeing. Themes of intimacy, objecthood, space and the self come up again and again in these narratives.
[Light will drive out the dark]