cheeringbutterIssue № 01 · 2026
Emily Zhang · 张子艾 · drawings, 2024 — 2026

Drawings
about not
sleeping.

and a few other things.

张子艾 · 关于失眠的涂鸦
以及一些别的事
XV. Flight · 飞翔
XV. Flight 飞翔 Colored pencil, colored ink, white gel pen · 12 × 15 in
Cover plate · 2026
From the artist

A chickadee, awake.

Iam investigating my struggle and journey to fall asleep through a chickadee avatar — how consistent disruptions cause aversion to sleep instead of an anticipation for rest, and how the journey navigates through these disruptors before finding an eventual resolution.

我以一只山雀为化身，记录入睡的挣扎与旅程 —— 那些反复出现的干扰如何让人对睡眠从期待变为抗拒，又如何在层层阻碍中走向最终的安宁。

Read the Investigation →
In this issue
The Sustained Investigation
  1. I The Plane飞机 p. 02
  2. II The Room房间 p. 04
  3. III The Stack作业堆 p. 06
  4. IV Yin / Yang阴阳 p. 08
  5. V The Pages书页 p. 10
  6. VI The Bus公交 p. 12
  7. VII Restless焦躁 p. 14
  8. VIII The Teacup茶杯 p. 16
  9. IX The Magpie喜鹊 p. 18
  10. X Fever高烧 p. 20
  11. XI Thoughts思绪 p. 22
  12. XII Watching凝视 p. 24
  13. XIII The Mouths众口 p. 26
  14. XIV Drifting漂浮 p. 28
  15. XV Flight飞翔 p. 30
Selected works
  1. · Reader读书的人 p. 30
  2. · Clawing at Fame攫取名利 p. 32
  3. · Sinking沉沦 p. 34
  4. · Westbound and Ava西行与艾娃 p. 36