For artist Risa Iwasaki Culbertson, softness wasn’t always the obvious tool for getting through hard things, but today, it’s at the center of her art practice. On the surface, her world is full of giant, whimsical needle-felted characters and objects, sculpted from wool into bright, playful forms.

But as we hear from Risa, that softness takes on a deeper meaning. Growing up between Japan and the United States, navigating family illness and grief, and learning to turn big feelings into something gentle and inviting, she’s used her practice as a way to heal, connect, and create places of belonging. In this episode, we explore how art can help us metabolize the uncertainty and heaviness of a full-spectrum human experience, turning it into something joyful, tender, and deeply meaningful.

Risa is a fiber artist, illustrator, storyteller, and owner of Papa Llama, a playful stationery company based out of San Francisco.