These Chi-Town talents are taking over your feed—and demonstrating their incredible artistry—with every post.
Artist and graphic designer extraordinaire Cody Hudson—aka Struggle Inc.—has left his mark across Chicago and around the world, with work having shown throughout the U.S., Europe and Japan. “I would be painting and designing and making things whether it was my ‘job’ or not,” notes Hudson of his passion for creating. “It’s just something I feel I need to do every day. It brings enjoyment to my life. It also helps keep me busy, which probably keeps me out of trouble as well.” With an audience of nearly 50K on Instagram, Hudson is a force on social media—but not a slave to it. “I’m not so concerned with it that it affects what work I actually make,” he says. “I’m still going to make whatever is in my head that needs to get out, but it’s a bonus if other people react positively to it.” For Hudson (who uses the phrase “Shapes and Colors Dept.” to describe his multifaceted works), his greatest inspirations are an impressively diverse lot. “I think it’s a mix of artists and designers from the past including Bruno Munari, Anni Albers, Alexander Girard, Vera Neumann and Karel Appel, to name a few, mixed in with a heavy dose of PMA, nature, psychoactive plants and fungi, ambient and shoegaze music, and hot dogs.”
Whether it’s as an opening act for Major Lazer and Kehlani or a panel speaker for brands as varied as Apple, Adidas and VICE, musical artist, DJ, model and creative director King Marie’s mission is clear: to create a platform that encourages empowerment and opens doors for womxn, children and Filipinx culture. “I create because it’s my divine purpose,” says the creative, whose debut EP, The Prelude, was released in 2019, adding, “My favorite part is being able to use my different creative media to bring ideas to fruition.” Social media is just another tool in her creative skill set. “It has given me the ability to share my work with people all over the world. Honestly, it’s its own creative process in itself. It ties in strategy, marketing, branding all in one and gives me my own personal space on the internet to share myself and my work.” Coming up next for King Marie? “New music. I’m so excited for the world to hear what I’ve been working on.”
With his playful, color-saturated aesthetic, Ukrainian Village-based photographer and art director Evan Sheehan is making a major impact in the city’s creative scene, with a prolific output that ranges from fashion editorials to stylized commercial product photography. “A lot of my work revolves around nostalgia or relationships,” explains Sheehan, who left Columbia College in 2015 and has been working full time as a creative ever since. “It feels good to showcase objects, locations and people that I hold near and dear.” Sheehan’s big news? Founding boutique agency Breakfast for Dinner with his partner, Alex Wallbaum, and Jonathon Spagat of Rit Dye. “BFD is more cheeky than the work I usually do. Our sets are bright and bold, and almost everything has a punchline. We also lean in on the name and include a lot of retro breakfast themes like diners and cereal commercials.” When it comes to social media, Sheehan’s perspective has evolved. “I used to create things solely for the purpose of being viewed online for a brief moment. [Now] it can inform what I create or be used as a tool to showcase it, but it isn’t the end-all.”
When Carlos Gaytán became the first Mexican-born chef to earn a Michelin star with his Mexican-French mashup Mexique, it was an epic accomplishment. That was just the start for this culinary creative, whose River North destination Tzuco has been wowing foodies since its opening in late 2019, and who has become a social media star with more than 180K followers on Instagram thanks to appearances on cooking shows like Top Chef and his activism during the pandemic in helping keep industry workers fed. Of the power of his social media presence, Gaytán says, “I think the impact lies in how others engage with what you’re doing. If your content inspires people to ask questions, to want to learn more or to create something of their own, it can be very powerful. I feel fortunate to have such engaged followers. Whether I’m sharing what I’m doing in the kitchen, during my travels or in the community, I’m encouraged by their responses. It motivates me to continue sharing the creative and inspiring moments in my life.”
Having spent six seasons as an award-winning producer for the Chicago Bulls and with campaigns for major brands like Nike, Reebok, Infiniti and more under his belt, cinematographer and producer Cody Madsen is on his way to industry veteran status—but he’s still passionate to learn. “What I honestly enjoy the most is it gives me the ability to try new things, learn and grow. There is always somebody better than you in your craft. I’m definitely by no means the best, and it’s important to understand and openly embrace that. So I enjoy learning from those people when given the chance to create beside them.” For Madsen, social media has been game changing. “It completely changed my creative process because it’s how we consume the majority of the content we see. Attention spans and decisions on whether we like or don’t like something are now made in literally one to two seconds, so creatively we need to instantly grab them to stop from scrolling on to the next post.” What’s next for Madsen? “I’ve always had this vision of creating a Traveling Wilburys type of creative collective with the people I often work with and who are some of the best in their respected fields. … We can combine forces to morph together like that robot in Power Rangers and take out some of these old agencies who put out underwhelming content for the biggest brands.”
“Creating is an outlet for me to express my emotions,” says Chicago-based artist Bianca Pastel, whose vivid, vibrant work—from animation and graphic design to album covers and children’s book illustration—pops with influences spanning from ’90s movies and cartoons to art deco, photography and music. She already has friends in high places in the art world—including renowned artist Hebru Brantley, who has been a mentor to Pastel since her days studying art and design at Columbia College. “Social media makes it easier to understand my audience,” says Pastel. “I get to see what things people like and dislike, which affects the direction I choose to go with a piece.” Coming up next? She hints at work on a cartoon with some of her favorite Black creatives, and looking five years down the road she’s thinking big: “I want my business to expand to the point where I can hire other creatives of color to work alongside me. I want to be able to express my art in every medium, whether that’s animation, fashion, fine art or graphic design. I have experience in just about everything and want to be able to have mastered the art of balancing these mediums and finding even better ways to express myself.”
“I’ve been telling stories since I can remember, but that’s really true of everyone,” says award-winning multidisciplinary artist Aimy Tien. “It’s what we do as people. We tell stories to make sense of our memories, to shape our present, to dream of new worlds. We are made of story. Why not be part of the telling?” Tien’s passion has garnered the Chicagoan a creative writing fellowship from the Luminarts Cultural Foundation, among other laurels; the hyperbusy creative is also a company member of Chicago storytelling collective 2nd Story, a board member of Women of The Now, the founder of tinheart productions and a producer of Go to the Body, a feature film focused on the stories of survivors and secondary survivors. For Tien, social media has allowed them to expand their audience. “For me, that’s meant reaching international audiences. It also is fun to decide when I want to engage with people from a personal or artistic level, and how that should be best consumed. Writing or creating for social means acknowledging the norms of the medium—as an artist you get to decide what you push against, and what parts of your aesthetic take precedence.”
Photography by: LYNDON FRENCH; AMANDA HOW | HAIR AND MAKEUP BY EMILY WOLF; ALEX WALLBAUM; DIEGO PADILLA; CODY MADSEN; AIMY TIEN; BIANCA GARCIA
