Cosplay guests & Panelists
We are excited to introduce our 2024 guests! All coming from diverse backgrounds, each of our guests and panelists have carved their own personality into their work and have come to Cosplay America to share their skills, knowledge and experience with everyone!
malindachan
Malindachan (Malinda) especially loves sewing and wig styling, and you might be familiar with the numerous tutorials she's created for Arda Wigs. She's been invited as a guest speaker and contest craftsmanship judge internationally thanks to her clean craftsmanship. While she was Arda's House Stylist, she collaborated with brands such as Simplicity Patterns, McCalls Patterns, and Sideshow Collectables.
Malinda is an award-winning veteran cosplay duo crafting full-time for their own business: Turtle Smithy
As cosplayers with nearly 20 years of experience each, they are well-rounded in various techniques including sewing, wig styling, prop/armor construction, and more!
Official Instagram | Official Twitter | Official Facebook | Official Website
Turtle Smithy cosplay
Turtle Smithy Cosplay (Kyle) has had a passion for breathing life into his favorite characters since he was a kid. His specialties are armor and props, but he's no stranger to sewing. He has traveled far and wide as a cosplay panelist and judge. A few of his accomplishments include being the first winner of C2E2's Crown Championships of Cosplay and creating armor patterns for Simplicity.
Kyle is an award-winning veteran cosplay duo crafting full-time for their own business: Turtle Smithy
As cosplayers with nearly 20 years of experience each, they are well-rounded in various techniques including sewing, wig styling, prop/armor construction, and more!
Official Instagram | Official Twitter | Official Facebook | Official Website
December Wynn
December Wynn is an award winning cosplayer based in Denver, Colorado. They are one half of WCS Team USA 2022. December specializes in fabric dyeing, painting, and sewing. Other areas of interest include leatherwork, millinery, embroidery, and sculpting.
They have guest-lectured in craftsman techniques at conventions both domestically and abroad, as well as served as a guest-lecturer at the University level. In addition to a cosplay career, December has worked professionally in the crafts industry for five years, including time as a dedicated painter/dyer.
They graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with BFA in Theatre Design and Technologies and a BFA in Studio Arts with an emphasis in painting.
Pros and Cons cosplay
Pros and Cons Cosplay are twin Master-level cosplayers from the Midwest who have a strong understanding of cosplay construction, cosplay competition and diversity, equity, and inclusion. They have competed and won numerous awards for cosplay craftsmanship and performance and focus on complex builds with multiple design elements including needlework, formwork, wig styling, and intricate detailing. Most recently, Pro won the title of USA winner of the Crown Championships of Cosplay. They are dedicated to making the cosplay community a safe and inclusive space for all, and work personally and professionally on developing inclusive cosplay contest policies, educating the community on bystander intervention techniques, social justice and inclusion in the cosplay and costuming community.
world of gwendana
Kyle is the photographer behind The World of Gwendana. Named after his late mother, Gwendolyn, Gwendana is a journey into the world of fantasy and cosplay. With 15 years of experience, Kyle blends the genres of fashion, lifestyle, cinematic and cosplay photography to tell compelling stories. Specifically, he is an expert in natural light photography and in utilizing available light to capture dramatic imagery. He also enjoys sharing his knowledge of photography so that others are inspired to take their own amazing photos.
JENNY BARCLAY
Jennifer "Jenny" Barclay is an award winning artist who fears no medium. Her vast background has given her a wide range of skills including traditional illustration, digital art, animation and, of course, cosplay.
Jenny thrives on challenges, especially those that others believe is impossible. She is a professional Creative Director at the digital media company Moxie and her work has been shown internationally. Despite all she does, when Jenny finds some free time, she prefers to spend it with a controller in hand while hosting the gaming web show Backward Compatible.
Sew Angry
Emily coined her handle "Sew Angry" out of a moment of frustration when trying to use a commercial sewing pattern! She is self-taught at sewing, having made clothes and fabric accessories since the '90s, and she started crafting for cosplay in 2007. In her costume work, she strives for precision in technique and accuracy in presentation. In recent years, she has also taken on the hobby of weightlifting, and she has been enjoying finding the intersection of fitness and cosplay.
Utopian Pigeon
Utopian Pigeon is an award winning cosplayer from Charlotte, NC and believes that with enough patience, pins, and hairspray you can literally create anything.
She's been creating cosplays of characters and a variety of original designs for over 15 years and competing for ten. What started as just wanting to join in with her friends in silly escapades has turned into a passion for learning new skills and building an absurd amount of Pokémon cosplays. When she's not working she is reading manga into the wee hours of the night, playing DnD and learning random bird facts.
Sarcasm-himé
Sarcasm-himé has been cosplaying for longer than the average convention attendee has been alive, and has the Party City wig horror stories to prove it. Addicted to anything shiny, she has a deep love for embroidery, beading, goldwork, and the sort of detail that makes your eyes cross. She loves the challenge of bringing something 2D to life, as well as flexing her creative muscles by interpreting fandom characters through the lens of historical fashion (like her 1910s Erté version of Hela, or her 18th century ballgown Ghidorah).
She has won numerous awards across Canada and the USA, and her most recent win was 1st place in the NYCC Crown Championships of Cosplay. When she's not working on her next detail monster, she's playing Baldur's Gate 3 or indulging in her bubble tea habit (that is perfectly fine and definitely doesn't need an intervention).
sayakat cosplay
Sayakat Cosplay is an award winning cosplayer, and has been cosplaying since 2014. She has honed her skills through the years and enjoys utilizing her expertise and experience to help others learn and make their own cosplays. She is a cosplay generalist, doing pretty much everything; sewing, making armor and props, styling wigs, and generally nerding out over all aspects of cosplay!