Portrait of the artist as a colon
At last, in one place I've collected my artwork through these first two years with ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Let's talk about it!
New zine: Portrait of the artist as a colon
I’ve wanted a more concrete collection of my IBD art so far, so I decided to compile the pieces into zine format! It’s much easier than making prints, though of course if there’s interest in any specific IBD pieces then I will consider it 😅 There is not a whole lot of art about IBD in the world — I would love to do a deep dive into that at some point —, so at the risk of self-aggrandizement, I see this as an important contribution to the creative conversation around these diseases.
The timing is also poignant: in just under a month I will undergo what I hope is my last GI surgery. It’ll have another long recovery, so I am beginning to let myself emotionally process it all. To be honest I have not spent a lot of time thinking about all of this lately, so making this zine felt like a good way to allow myself to contemplate what this all entails (entrails? sorry, terribly insensitively placed pun).
Several of these pieces are technically sketches, but that does speak to my capacity at the time: due to the fatigue and the frightening symptoms, alongside all the other stuff going on in my life, I have not had much capacity to make “polished” art. So I do think it’s crucial to include them as a very indirect way of reflecting that, as well as due to the aforementioned limited visibility of IBD-inspired art.
On a design note: I wanted to up the ante on my graphic design, which famously is not my strong suit. Canva makes it very easy to get started, so I am eternally grateful for it. Otherwise I would have absolutely no idea how to pick a classy-looking font for projects like these 😂 Assuming you all like the look of this one, I foresee repeating this aesthetic for future zines that either feature a lot of artwork or a lot of essay-style text.
This collection is not for the faint of heart. Most images have semi-representational illustrations of innards in them. Some are a little gory. IBD involves a fair amount of blood during a flare, so…
…if, after all that, this sounds like a good read to you, physical copies are available here, and digital PDF copies are here!
Digital hospital zines now available!
The zines about reading in the hospital and self-care essentials to take to the hospital now have PDF versions! Snag a copy of the “What to read when you’re in the hospital” here, and a copy of “Hospital self-care essentials you may forget” here.
They are f r e e . I genuinely care more about these zines in particular reaching people more than making money on them, since they’re in principle supposed to serve as a resource. I hope they help you or someone you care about ❤️🩹
Latest inspo: more queer artists
One of my absolute favorite queer artists is Andreas L, who often places transmasculine people in historical (if not mythological) aesthetics and settings. Art is often NSFW, fyi.
I long for more comics by Lucky Srikumar, whose work ranges from memoir to activism to random funny stuff.
If you want to see cute art showcasing trans characters in art and history, Alienby Comics draws those, among other topics!