first gallery show, opening jan 27th

​I'm stoked to announce I landed a group show and my comic Old Ghost, New Tricks will be on display. Big thanks to Agitator Gallery for accepting my work into the show and for being so kind in working with me as a remote artist.

​Of course it would take me moving out of the city to have my work presented at a Chicago gallery. (cue Earth Wind and Fire's "That's the Way of the World") Truth be told, I never tried very hard - in my 15 years there, I only applied to a handful of galleries. However consistent no's after a while didn't really hype me up to keep applying, eventually I set my eyes on different types of gigs to book. This just goes to show to never stop trying because you never know when you'll finally get a YES after a parade of NO's.

Also the comic I had accepted was something i sketched up during last year's Inktober. While I never found the time to ink my pencil sketch, it did give me a jumping off point for this submission. Having a completed comic to digitize instead of starting from scratch enabled me to see this through to completion instead of getting hung up on ideation and editing during the submission window. It taught me a valuable lesson about open calls -  to value the sketches I doodle daily more and build off of those instead of always starting from scratch when I find an opportunity that excites me. Seems obvious enough, but this was the first time I ever leveraged something in my sketchbook for a final product instead of creating something specifically inspired by the submission. More importantly, I was also able to submit it days. before the deadline instead of the hour before it was due, which historically has always been my downfall and major source of stress & anxiety. I'm trying really hard to focus on conjuring less stressful workflows, both in my art and personal life, this year. Capitalizing on previous designs went a long way to help me find a new approach that instilled equity into my practice that I've never before experienced - which very much ties out with the title and theme of my comic: Old Ghost, New Tricks.

Exhibition Dates, times in CST

• Opening - Saturday Jan 27, 6 - 10 pm
• Chicago Animators Screening - Saturday Feb 3, 6 - 10 pm
• Comics On the Radio Event* - Saturday Feb 10, 6 - 10 pm
• Closing- Saturday Feb 17, 6 - 10 pm

*Comics On the Radio is both an effort at accessibility AND a fantastic way to experience comics. This event will be a radio play enactment of all the work in the book, complete with voice actors, foley sound, and live music. Video and audio will be recorded and uploaded to the Agitator website.

taken from @agitatorgallery's IG announcement:
Volume 4 of Agitator's annual open-call, open theme comics compilation is LIVE! Come meet the artists, and buy books, original artwork and swag.

Book Edited by Gretchen Hasse, designed and produced by Alex Wilson. See you there!
The 15 Artists I'll be showcased alongside are linked in the IG announcement.