The Cartoons Of Bishakh SomA short profile of one of the women featured in my documentary, Women Laughing
Next in my series of short profiles is Bishakh Som. Bishakh is an Indian-American trans-femme cartoonist and graphic novelist based in Brooklyn. Born in Ethiopia, she moved to the city with her family at a young age and grew up in New York City. She was trained at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in Architcture, but always drew comics and incorporates architectural ideas in her graphic novel work. In 2018, she sold her first drawing to The New Yorker. Bishakh’s work for The New Yorker has been both single panel cartoons and graphic narratives, such as the one below. This drawing below was done specifically for an exhibition I curated for the Society of Illustrators in 2018. Her personal story growing up in an immigrant family in the US is featured throughout her work, as she explores the relationships between figure, sexuality and architectural space. She beautifully uses watercolor and strong ink line to tell stories that are personal and poetic. |