The Worlds Within Yoon Je An’s Drawings

Amid the bustle of this year’s opening night of the Jakarta Illustration & Creative Arts Fair (JICAF), we came across a booth featuring the work of an artist who felt oddly familiar. We first encountered Yoon Je An’s practice through POPPIES, a fictional band he created whose distinctive visual language captures the charm of 1990s and early-2000s animation. Curious to learn more about the artist behind the project, we had the chance to have a conversation with Yoon Je An about his creative practice, the ideas behind his work, and the stories that shape his visual world.

Growing up during the 1990s and 2000s, the visual language of that era – when animation was transitioning from cel to digital – naturally became part of Yoon Je An’s personal taste. To Yoon Je An, animation today has become increasingly sophisticated, both technically and visually. Yet he finds himself drawn to the simpler, more refined qualities of animation from the 1990s and early 2000s. “I find it fascinating that an image could feel complete without using a lot of shadows or post-production effects. I also love small accidental qualities from analog production, such as the subtle shadows created by the physical distance between the background and the animation cels during filming.”

In his own creative practice, Yoon Je An does not consciously attempt to recreate the style of that era. Instead, the images and visual references he grew up consuming have naturally found their way into the way he draws today.

Not only 1990s and early-2000s animation, music has also been closely connected to Yoon Je An’s practice, from the fictional band POPPIES to his collaborations with Korean bands such as Silica Gel. For Yoon Je An, one of the things he values most about drawing is the ability to give a character a sense of life. In that sense, he sees music as a powerful way to bring energy into an image. “The moment a character starts playing music, they naturally gain movement and vitality. Even in a still illustration or comic where no actual music is playing, the viewer can begin to imagine the missing sound for themselves.”

In much the same way that music communicates directly with an audience, Yoon Je An believes drawing can also leave certain spaces open for viewers to fill in themselves. “It doesn't always have to explain everything. Music makes that imaginative space even richer for me.”

Talking about music and POPPIES, Yoon Je An shared that the project actually began with a very simple sketch. “At the time, I was listening to Japanese bands such as LAMP and JUDY AND MARY a lot, and their music inspired me to make an imaginary album cover as a kind of gift to myself. There was the face of a woman in the middle of winter, and the name ‘POPPIES,’ which I borrowed from the name of a snack I happened to see at a café. Everything started from those two things.”

Unexpectedly, the image received more attention than Yoon Je An had anticipated, with people becoming curious about the name POPPIES and the story behind the character. “Their reactions motivated me as well, so I began adding more ideas, settings, and members one by one. Eventually, that single drawing grew into the four-member band that POPPIES is today.”

For the characters of POPPIES, Yoon Je An began with Choi Won-young, the band’s vocalist and frontman, whose character was inspired by the incredible energy of YUKI, the vocalist of JUDY AND MARY, whom he listened to frequently at the time. From there, he developed the other members one by one, considering what was missing from Won-young and how each new character could complement her qualities.

“For example, if Won-young was energetic and outgoing, I created a calmer character who could balance that energy. If there was a smaller character, I might add someone with a bigger and heavier silhouette to balance the group visually. Through this process, I wanted each member to have a very distinct personality while still looking harmonious when the four of them stood together as a band.”

Their personalities and appearances are also closely connected to their instruments and roles within the group. Yoon Je An explained that because he imagined POPPIES as a band that plays energetic and exciting music, he gave Won-young, the vocalist, a lively and unpredictable personality. Meanwhile, just as the bass often anchors the overall tone of a song, he made Ji-won the leader, a calm and dependable presence who holds the group together.

These ideas naturally extend to their fashion as well. Won-young enjoys expressing herself and standing out, which is reflected in her bright purple hair and bold streetwear. Ji-won, on the other hand, wears cleaner and more understated clothes, while her tall figure helps create the impression of someone steady and difficult to shake.

“For me, personality, appearance, music, role, and fashion never exist separately. They constantly influence one another, and as those elements build up, the character begins to feel more and more like a complete person.”

Beyond POPPIES, Yoon Je An’s recent projects also point toward a deeper exploration of animation. As he has moved further into working with moving images, he has encountered a different set of challenges in translating ideas into motion. For Yoon Je An, the biggest difference between animation and illustration or comics lies in the way movement has to be considered from beginning to end.

“In a single illustration, you can choose one particular moment that will have the strongest impact on the viewer. In animation, however, the movement itself becomes the impact and stays in the audience's memory. Compared to a still image, there is much less room to hide.”

He said that working as an animation director on Lost in Starlight sometimes felt like learning how to draw all over again. Clothing folds, for instance, became a good example of how differently he had to approach drawing. In an illustration, he can simply draw folds that look convincing and beautiful within a single image. In animation, however, he has to understand how those folds appear, disappear, and change as the body moves. “Relearning and questioning those fundamentals made me realize how much I still had to learn, but the process also deepened my understanding of form and structure.”

Yoon Je An also shared that his way of watching animation has changed through this experience. In the past, he mostly focused on how the characters looked and how they were designed. Now, he finds himself paying much closer attention to how lines and shapes transform to communicate movement effectively.

Today, Yoon Je An’s name and work have left a lasting impression on many people. Looking back at the person he was when he first started making art, Yoon Je An shared that his style has gone through many changes over the years. “I'm actually someone who is quite easily influenced by the work of other artists and directors. Maybe that's because I'm still building up my own experience and knowledge, so I'm very sensitive to new influences and new forms of stimulation.”

At times, he finds himself drawn to detailed and realistic drawings that still feel full of life, making him want to explore that approach himself. At other times, he becomes more interested in simple, restrained lines. This constant shift in interests has naturally found its way into his work.

Even within POPPIES, there is a significant difference between how he drew the characters when he first created them and how he draws them today. Despite these changes, people can still recognize them as the same characters. Yoon Je An believes this is because their stories have continued to develop even as their visual style has evolved. “A drawing style can keep changing, but the time and stories accumulated by the characters remain. In that sense, I think the characters of POPPIES have become a record not only of how my drawing has changed, but also of the time I have spent growing as an artist.”

Looking ahead, there are still many experiences Yoon Je An hopes to explore through his work. “I love fictional worlds across many different genres. I'm especially drawn to science fiction and post-apocalyptic settings; worlds that are completely different from anything we can experience in reality today. If I ever have the opportunity, I would love to create a world like that from the ground up and tell a much larger-scale story within it.”

Before that, however, there are still many things he hopes to achieve with POPPIES. Inspired by the groundbreaking virtual band Gorillaz, Yoon Je An would love to see POPPIES eventually function more like a real band: releasing albums, going on concert tours, and creating experiences that bring the characters even closer to their audience.

“I hope that one day these characters can almost leave my hands and exist as artists in their own right. It would be wonderful if I could someday sit in the audience and watch them perform, almost like a parent watching their grown-up child succeed on stage,” he said.

For now, you can see and collect Yoon Je An’s works at the Jakarta Illustration & Creative Arts Fair (JICAF), running until 4 October 2026 at Agora Mall, Central Jakarta.