Artist Stuff
My works are primarily in the mediums of song, writing, traditional comics, and printmaking. I dabble in graphic design but only in a very specific application.
A lot of the work that I do centers around relationships, hockey as a team sport, brain devils, aye and all manner of things. I also explore masculinity and fantasies of belonging in a reality that isn't so accomodating. Whether it be comics, music, or another medium, my big thing is the understanding - not necessarily for the sake of those who need to understand, so much as those who need to be understood, by which I usually am referring to myself. Any connection others find is happily circumstantial.
Some samples of my work can be viewed below.
Romantic Atrocities
My longest running passion project to date is Romantic Atrocities. This is an EP, short stories, poems, comics, and assorted epistolary ephemera assembled into a "narrative shoebox" telling the story of Roy Angelo and Allen Fletcher and their burgeoning relationship as it blossoms through a somewhat traumatic road trip they took together in 1997.
The EP was first published in 2019, followed shortly thereafter by the short stories. I intend to rerelease the EP on CD and tape alongside its accompanying narrative shoebox in 2023.
Without spoiling the whole damn thing, Romantic Atrocities explores the concept of a lifeline, or something that tethers you to the living realm in times of distress or discomfort. This can be literal, in the sense of a life-saving action, or more loosely metaphorical, in the sense of a healing friendship, or a soothing activity. The shifting dynamic between the anchor and the one who is being anchored, and its vacilation, is something that I deeply discuss in this work.
The basis behind the "narrative shoebox" presentation is to tell a story partly in song, and partly in poorly remembered recountings and the epistolary evidence surrounding it: a college acceptance letter, developed photos of rest stops, short stories that repeat in some ways and contradict in others, poems, et cetera. This gives the same sort of nostalgic effect as finding a shoebox in the attic with a bunch of old photos and letters, and digging through it with poor recollection of what it all represented or when they are from, but a degree of recollection nonetheless. The idea is to imbue the package with a certain nostalgia without leaning into dating the series of events too heavily with pop culture references, in order to more timelessly portray Roy and Allen's early days of their romantic relations, as if a personal recollection of the reader themself.
I began dabbling in epistolary storytelling as part of a fanfiction practice in 2016 and 2017 and utilized graphic design and traditional methods to visually affect the letters themselves as part of the narrative. Today, this visual affectation of the epistolary format forms a core part of my practice. The narrative shoebox format for Romantic Atrocities utilizes more traditional forms of subjective storytelling, poetry, and songwriting alongside the concrete artefacts that remain surrounding those events in their most believable form. The artefact-informed narrative is part of a tradition that is oftentimes seen in children's publications, wherein a published book will contain envelopes and pastings with epistolary "evidence" (oftentimes fictional) towards the book's contents.
Unlike the bulk of children's publications, it is my intention to reproduce the artefacts as faithfully as possible: Illustrations and real-life developed photos will be reprinted on photo paper, notes from class will be hand-scrawled and copied, letters will be folded and inserted into envelopes, and so on.
These characters and the plot are inspired by Go Nagai's 1972 manga "Devilman", with stylistic influences from songwriters John Darnielle and Scott Miller, and the poet Richard Siken.
Block Prints
These are lino cuts printed some time in 2018.
My Devil, My Darling
Love Be The Reason (eternal WIP)
Intaglio
This is from around 2019, printed from etched zinc plates.
Big Shot
Kitchen Lithograph
I will scan and upload this and my other lithos at... some point (lol) but this is a lithographic print using DIY methods, with coke as etchant, aluminum foil as plate, etc, and for the sake of convenience using a thick oil paint as ink. This is a very messy, labour-intensive, but fun process. I highly recommend looking further into it. There are many ways to do it that can be found online.
Test Print #2
Comics
I also make comics. My current ongoing series is called Intergalactic Hockey League, which follows 23 year old left-winger Oliver Osbourne and the C-league team he plays for from near-relegation to... well, you'll have to read to find out! It can be read at the link below. I've printed each chapter into zines, which I assemble at home.
Below is some work I did for the CCS 1-week comics workout, which you can do via email.
CCS 1-week workout, Day 1
Music
I also write and perform songs. My bandcamp page is listed below, where you can listen to (and purchase!) my music. I write songs primarily to tell stories, usually divorced from my own situation but informed by personal experience, readings, et cetera. While my discography is largely an acoustic/electric guitar and singing kinda deal, ranging from early Mountain Goats type of arrangement to early Billy Bragg (do you see a pattern here?), I plan to expand my sound to include a full band setup using my past drumming experience, some help from friends, and general bullshittery. Please give it a gander!
Poetry
I write poems now. Read 'em at my poetry blog.