More Than Me

Hello this is super experimental haha but it's something I've wanted to make for a while.

Something I've always been very interested in is how we represent ourselves, whether that's through how we dress, speak, the art we make etc. Within this topic, the thing that I find the most fascinating is avatars. If we could be anything, what would we be? Do our avatars and online presences change us? Do we become separate selves, or is it just another facet of who we are? Are we roleplaying? Are we trying to become a version of ourselves that we can't be any other way? Are we just trying things out? What is it that makes the creation of an alternate self So appealing to so many people?

I know it's literally not that deep but it's just something I enjoy thinking about. The whole alternate self thing has been appealing to me ever since I was a kid, I think it's why I was drawn to things like Kingdom Hearts and Yu-Gi-Oh; and as someone who spent most of my formative years on Habbo Hotel, the creation of avatars has also been a huge part of my life both in the past and in the present.

What I've been thinking about lately though is how our avatars can grow beyond ourselves. This can be a bad thing sometimes (Perfect Blue!!) or it can be good. For me, I think of it as a positive thing although it can be a heavy burden.

It's impossible to not feel the shift between what my work started out as and what it has become. My comics aren't just for myself anymore, and they haven't been for a while. The feelings and situations that I present in my comics aren't just mine, they're all of ours, and it's cool that we're all connected that way.

I started making these comics largely out of a sense of isolation. I wanted to communicate how I was feeling without having to actually talk to anyone, and I wanted to show it in visual form because I thought it was easier to be seen and understood but also it was a way of saying 'hey, don't worry about me! As long as I'm still drawing, I'm OK!' and I think it's pretty cool that what started out as isolation has actually grown into a huge sense of community and belonging for me. My feelings aren't unique and I'm not the only one feeling them. There are so many of us; so many different kinds of people feeling different variations of the same thing.

So I wanted to make something to kind of reflect that. My comics have grown beyond myself; and I am also more than my comics. And while that can feel pretty heavy for me at times, I also am very content with how things are right now. I'm happy.

Thank you, always, for reading <3