Page 34 - Vo Vo | FIX MY HEAD #6: QTPOC PUNK ARTISTS

As this is an issue about Q/WOC illustrators and
comic artists, do you have any advice that you
have learnt from your conversations about how to
retain one’s perspective/identity without it
becoming a “genre”, or marginalised as a novelty?
We have discussed survival tactics before - in
terms of making art - do you think its possible
for a QTPOC to live solely off one’s passion or
expression?
My advice regarding not getting marginalized or
pigeonholed is don’t try to be mainstream.
Acknowledge that your work is niche and may only
speak to a certain community and USE THAT. Reach
out to folks who are most likely to care about
your work (folk like you) and ask them for
support when you need it. I have never submitted
my comics to a publisher, the people that know me
from comics know of me mostly through tumblr and
through zines. That then gets into a question of
how do you monetize your work, if you are giving
out for free, but I think you need to develop a
grassroots following by self-publishing, and then
hopefully they will be devoted and appreciative
enough that when you need resources (like money)
you can ask them (by crowdfunding) and they will
support you. Developing that loyal fanbase takes
time and work though.
I wish very deeply that I could say I think it is
possible for QPOC to live solely off one’s
passion or expression, but I’ve interviewed al-
most 40 artists and none of them are really mak-
ing a living off of their art. Most of the art-
ists I talk to have jobs with varying degrees of
relation to their art.
Ryka Aoki teaching writing, and
she is a writer, so that is pretty
close to making a living off her
art, in a way. When I interviewed
Daddie$ Pla$tik, one of them was
waiting tables, two of them were
ticket-takers at SF MOMA (which is
now under construction and laid a
bunch of people off) and I think
one was unemployed. Magnoliah Black
has a corporate day job and does
burlesque at night. I have an
interview with Janet Mock in the
book that is not available online
because it wasn’t a podcast
interview. At one point I believe
she was living off of her book
doesn’t last forever. So I think
the closest anyone I’ve talked to
has come to making a living off of
their art is teaching. Or maybe
having a position as a staff writer
and editor somewhere if they are a
journalist. The sad fact is that
most of the people I see as really
successful are not making a
living off of their art. I think
part of that is because creative
labor is devalued by capitalism.
I think part of it is because the
labor of women, queer people, trans
people, and people of color is
often devalued. And I think another
part of it is that most of us don’t
have institutional support for our
work: grants, fellowships,
residencies, that type of thing. We
have to constantly move from oppor-
tunity to opportunity to keep our
heads above water, if we’re even
lucky enough to be offered paid
gigs. There’s also just the fact
that the economy is shit right now,
and lots of people are struggling,
whether they are artists or have
“real jobs”. I spent the last two
years freelancing as a journalist/
illustrator/videographer and
trying to make a living off of writ- ing, speaking, and podcasting. I’ve had a lot of great opportunities in that time, and I’m glad I was able to take them, but they weren’t pay- ing the rent. I just started two part time jobs, and I’ll be start- ing a third next month.