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I am a
person who makes art with the
belief that pictures can tell
stories as strong, or stronger
than, words. I love art that is
narrative in nature (such as
graphic novels or sequential
art), but I also love it when a
single drawing or painting
portrays something funny,
poignant, dark, or when the
characters within the picture
are memorable. I’ve always
loved storytelling, which is
probably why I gravitate towards
narrative art, and why I myself
want to create illustrations
which capture moments and/or
turn into extended narratives.
I was raised
in New York, and grew up loving
puns, playing on words in
general, theatre, music, and
art. I was always involved in
the arts throughout my life, and
began focusing on writing
(mostly plays) and
drawing/painting (mostly
narrative, single illustrations)
in high school. I attended Sarah
Lawrence College, where I
primarily (again) focused on
playwriting, art, and also
psychology. The fact that I
finally graduated from college
with my primary goal to
write/draw comics actually makes
sense to me, as narrative art is
the only thing which really
combines illustration, writing,
and the psychology of all of the
characters involved into the
same thing. While I had grown up
reading comics, I had stopped
reading them as I got older.
However, I spent six months in
London on a study abroad
program, and one of my
professors opened me up to the
world of alternative cartoons
and comics. Suddenly, there was
a lot more to a world that for
me previously had been mostly
defined by Archie, Veronica,
Betty, or possibly Richie Rich.
After discovering and devouring
cartoonists and illustrators
like Joe Sacco, R. Crumb, Julie
Douchet, the Hernandez Brothers,
Raymond Pettibon, and a slew of
others, while making sure to
still study the many narrative
and/or religious works
interspersed throughout the many
museums in London, I decided
that I personally wanted to
always make art which told a
story. I got my wish, as for my
final project in London, I
wrote, drew, and inked an eight
page narrative story. I kept
doing illustrations and comics,
continuing them in my studies
into my last year of college. I
am still making art in my
post-college life in the "real
world,” while living and working
in Los Angeles.
Concerning my past exhibition
experience, before I graduated
college, my six page pen and ink
comic "Happy Day" was selected
to be in the Sarah Lawrence
College Barbara Walters Gallery
summer exhibition. It was
curated by Christine Kim, the
curator of the Studio Museum of
Harlem, so it was an honor to be
selected for it. Since being in
Los Angeles, I have become
involved in the underground
gallery scene, and I think that
a lot of new and exciting art is
being created here. I have been
lucky enough to participate in
three exhibitions: "Canceptual,"
at Crewest Gallery in Downtown
Los Angeles, February 2007;
"Westinghouse Invitational" as
part of the Gallery Usine which
was housed in the Regent
Galleries in Downtown Los
Angeles, and the "Snap to Grid"
exhibition at the Los Angeles
Center for Digital Art, in
September through October of
2007. I really love the Los
Angeles art scene because it is
so illustration heavy, because
there is a lot of influences
from cartoons and films in a lot
of fine art in this city, and
because so much exciting stuff
happens in both the underground
and the more established art
scene here. And, as this
exhibit is sure to showcase,
there are certainly many things
here-from the seedy things about
“the industry,” to deserted
alleyways, to the stark
juxtaposition of certain
infamously neglected parts of
Downtown Los Angeles to Beverly
Hills, to political
corruptions-which evoke the
feeling of “noir.” |
Gallery
Donna Letterese
914-819-7583
E-mail
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