TAJLIYA JAMAL

Printmaker and Illustrator in Vancouver, BC

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When You're Ready to Find Me I'll Be Waiting

2025

7 layer screenprint on mulberry paper.

This was shown at Queer Arts Festival's printmaker exhibition Varied Editions in June 2025.

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I put off posting about this project for a long time because my collaborator Kris Cronk whose story this comic tells passed away not long after its publication in 2021.

I'm really proud of this short comic and still feel so grateful to have been a part of this larger project organized by Melanie Kwan and hosted by Megaphone Magazine. Megaphone does vital work in the DTES supporting low-income individuals while changing the narrative on poverty. Melanie had the amazing vision to pair comic illustrators with Megaphone vendors to collaboratively tell their stories.

Kris' priorities in telling his story was to humanize the everyday life of drug users in the DTES, and spotlight his dealer who took care of people in his community in different ways. Kris had so much to say about the way his dealer prioritized the health and wellbeing of sick and elderly, made a point of not dealing to youth, and was always curious and engaged in the lives of others; these wonderful traits were definitely carried by Kris as well. Rest in peace Kris.

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Very excited to share some of the illustrations Randi Hamel and I created for Transcare BC's website last year.

It really was an honour and privilege to draw for our community and I'm so glad the project's emphasis from the get-go was to show joy in day-to-day trans life.

Transcare BC's work supporting access to trans healthcare and information has been essential for years, not just for people in BC, but across Canada and even internationally.

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Photos by Gudrun Wai-Gunnarsson and Mark Ng Shun.

Pasting for Chinatown, 2024.

As part of the DTES SRO Collaborative's block party, I had the beautiful opportunity to host another collaborative wheat paste mural and celebrate among family, friends, and community.

The event celebrated ongoing success and support for the The Gain Wah Project, an initiative to rebuild Gain Wah Restaurant for community by community. The project is looking not only at rebuilding the restaurant physically, but at maintaining its legacy as a community hub, as well as exploring the possibilities on how this space can best support the DTES going forward. I encourage everyone, especially those in Vancouver, to learn more about this project and to support it!

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Illustration work for BMO Community Art Days in Prince George BC, 2024.

It was such an incredible experience to be Two Rivers Gallery's artist-in-residence for this event, to be able to make a visual impact, and to facilitate a collaborative wheat pasted mural.

The design was inspired by the natural landscape of the traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh, (Prince George.) The two central figures represent the two rivers that flow through Prince George, with the iconic cut cliffs looming in the distance and a pattern of sturgeon scales. The figures above the cut cliffs evoke the sense of community the event fosters, with the individual shapes interweaving into a collective. Finally, the Islamic star design highlights the lasting significance of this art history, emphasizing the event's theme of Archival Renewal.

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Pasting for our People, 2024.

What an incredible opportunity to facilitate this collaborative mural work last year. Hosted by Two Rivers Gallery in Prince George BC, the project invited people of all ages to add to the mural using wheat paste, paper, and paint. The free-standing mural was initially a screen-printed wallpaper in an Islamic geometric pattern, serving as a guide for new shapes and images to be added into.

See video footage of the event here!

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No Reason To Apologize (Teach Media), 2022.

Adapted from the play Controlled Damage by Andrea Scott, this graphic novel illustrates with more nuance the resilient life of Viola Desmond. I admire the way Scott illustrates the various relationship dynamics Viola would have had to navigate being a light-skinned biracial Black woman at this moment in Canadian history.

There is much to learn from her story about the small and large ways individuals contribute to activism from different angles, the constraints and push-back that can be faced by various groups, and how community care and resilience is ultimately at the centre of it.

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Towards Alternate Landscapes, 2023. Illustrated for Lantern City 2024, Vancouver BC.

More on the project here

Interview with Pancouver here

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Feature artwork for Vancouver's Indian Summer Festival 2023.

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Painted this mural for the Langley Regional Airport with Pulp Studios Inc. in June 2023! The image depicts and honours The Flying Seven, a group of women aviators who flew in BC during WWII.

New Langley Regional Airport mural a tribute to women in aviation - Langley Advance Times

Honours “The Seven” group of pioneering female pilots

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First page of a short comic about experiencing burnout.

"I could be more gentle." 2022.

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"Solace" 2022.

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Carpets

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Forgot to post this quarantine crisis I had a couple weeks ago.

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Sketchbook drawings. I’ve had more time to use paints now, and of course drawing patterns helps me relax during these times.

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some recent sketchbook drawings