Arie Vasquez
Artist Statement
CV
The initial entry into my art practice felt like two distinct disciplines: comics and paintings. I practiced fine art during the day and comics during the night. This pursuit was unfulfilling and unmaintainable, so I decided to fuse the two practices together. In combining the practices, I am able to uniquely and cohesively share my narratives with my audience. I am the author, editor, draftsman, and painter. In my work, I create narratives critical of patriarchal structures tethered to motherhood while also sharing sentiments about grief and my place as a woman in academia, comics, and fine art. I tell my stories so that they live on paper or canvas. The more I paint, the less the weight of my narratives bear on me. In my paintings, I go beyond the typical hero, villain, and victim trope that is often used in comics. I cast characters in my stories that are based on real people in my life. Sometimes, animals serve as a metaphor in lieu of the person I am painting. In displaying my paintings outside of a traditional comic format, I share my comics in a way that is both deeply personal but also immersive, accessible, and exciting. My comics take up space within gallery walls. They pour out from the walls and engage with those who desire to grow their relationship with comics in a personal and meaningful way.
A wide range of comic artists inspire me, and in my current body of work, The Critical
Eye, my practice is inspired by Joëlle Jones, John Paul Leon, and Lee Weeks. Their particular approach to composition, timing, line weights, rhythm, and movement informs distinctive elements in my paintings. Joëlle Jones’s use of line weight and movement inspires the way I draw faces and ink my finished paintings. It is in the inking phase of my process that my work takes shape and comes to life. John Paul Leon’s use of heavy black shadows and his ability to convey so much detail with minimal lines has informed the way I approach complicated scenes. Studying his work has informed the way I imply subjects with shapes and shadows. Lee Week’s ability to draw comics that illustrate a strong sense of timing, composition, and rhythm has taught me how to incorporate those aspects of comics into how I write stories. I also derive creative inspiration from magazine illustrators such as J.C Leyendecker, Norman Rockwell, and Al Parker. I learned the importance of context, design, color, expression, semiotics, and exaggeration from studying their work. J.C Leyendecker and Norman Rockwell both inspire the way I exaggerate certain facial expressions and incorporate acting into my comics. Al Parker’s unique use of color and negative space inspires the way I approach painting cover pages and when I decide to paint single-page comics.
Building off of the last collection of stories I have painted, intersectional feminism will always remain at the heart of the stories that I paint. Critiquing the injustices and patriarchal issues will remain present in the art that I make. The stories I share are deeply personal to me, but I do not make comics solely for myself. I paint comics for those who were like me when I was younger and wished that one day they could make, read, enjoy, and engage with comics.