ABQZF8 Exhibitor Interviews

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Please tell us a little about the zines you'll be tabling at ABQZF8! 

My name is Brennan Barnhill and the name of my main zine is “Seven Silly Sailors”. (I’ll have multiple zines with different names but that is the initial submission name)

Why did you create them? What are they about?

I created these because drawing and making comics/content and sharing it is something I’ve always done. I think creating and sharing art, whatever the medium is, is therapeutic and can really resonate with others. Even if it’s a silly comic or drawing, if I know I made someone laugh and feel good, I feel good. My zines are a mix of shorter comic strips, poems, wordplay, fake advertisements, etc. My content overall strays towards the goofy and silly side, but a lot of them have satire regarding consumerism, modern life, etc. 

Why do you make zines? How did you get started? How long have you been making zines?

I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember (a cliche artist statement, I know), but definitely making comics and zines (without realizing what a zine was) since I was 5 or so. The first time I consciously contributed to a zine was back in college 5 years ago. One of my senior level drawing classes in art school had a group project which consisted of contributing to and publishing a zine together. It was a lot of fun and rewarding to see the final product printed out and published online! 

Tell us about one of your favorite zines that you would like to recommend. 

I’ve always liked the work of artist/designer Andy Rementer, at some point I realized he published zines such as “Good Morning” and “Perfect Strangers”. To me, he has such a clean and simple style that I think is powerful. I’ve always been interested in graphic design and appreciate the influence in his work.

What kind of zine do you want to write/create that you haven't explored yet? Why? *(Topic, format, style, etc.)

I’d like to explore more “serious” zine themes at some point. What I mean by that is, content that is a bit more personal or vulnerable, or maybe even more text/writing based and less heavy on the illustrations. I respect people that make raw and honest (sometimes gut wrenching) zines about personal experiences. I’d like to get there someday, for now I like making goofy content that distracts from the sometimes harshness of real life!

Do you have a zine crush?! If so, are you willing to reveal the object of your zine affection? *

Not specifically! Does this mean a zine crush on a certain zine or zine creator?

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Please tell us a little about the zines you'll be tabling at ABQZF8! *Why did you create them? What are they about?

I live in Billy the Kid territory, in New Mexico. When I first moved here, I was shocked at how so many are preoccupied with the legend of Billy the Kid, but show no interest in the creative and innovative people who are alive today in this place. That created the urge in me to make a publication called "New Legends". New legends, new stories by and for the living. The zine is a way to publish the stories that I write, and to share the art that I make with others that I would not be able to connect with otherwise. Hopefully there are some "New Legends" in the stories themselves, or at least a new legend of some kind in the attempt by one independent female artist to create something of value, something contemporary, something original and non-mediated.Why do you make zines? 

*How did you get started? How long have you been making zines?WHY I MAKE THIS ZINE

When I went to elementary school in rural Colorado, my family was very poor. We lived in the kind of poverty where you go barefooted in the summer so you can save your shoes for school in the fall. I read every book in the school library. I learned that many of the authors and artists I was familiarizing myself with had grown up poor too, yet that had not stopped them from doing the thing they loved, that which motivated them to love life in spite of hardship---CREATING. Writing and painting, making art, seemed to me the only ways a person could escape the dreary, depressing surface realities of poverty and the oppressive attitudes of those who were convinced that they were chained to a life of limitations, sorrows, self-pity. One of my teachers in the rural elementary school said to me one day: “Rosalyn, you are very smart, you have a high IQ but you are poor. You will never have the opportunity to go to a really good college and you will not have the opportunities that those who have money will have. You will have to do things yourself, be a self-made person if you want to have success and happiness.” I took this counseling to heart. I continued to read voraciously and educated myself and have lived much of my life as a freelance artist, graphic designer, photographer, videographer and writer. Without going into lengthy details about my life, that is why I make this zine. And that is why I am happy. That and Spiritual experience and practice, which is another interesting story. Rosalyn Stevenson

Tell us about one of your favorite zines that you would like to recommend. 

I'm just starting to explore more zines and excited about meeting people who make them.

What kind of zine do you want to write/create that you haven't explored yet? Why? *(Topic, format, style, etc.)

Something about psychedelic experience and how it has helped me spiritually.Do you have a zine crush?! If so, are you willing to reveal the object of your zine affection? 

None.

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Please tell us a little about the zines you'll be tabling at ABQZF8! Why did you create them? What are they about?

I'm going to be bringing a few of the older comics I made in Chicago, the 'classics,' if you will, and also a couple of new ones— one functioning as an intro to the cassette tapes of some of my albums I'm bringing, and one containing recent stories and conversations with old characters.

Why do you make zines? How did you get started? How long have you been making zines?

I started making zines in college after finding frustration with a fine art program. After that it became, along with music, my major way of communication and emoting.Tell us about one of your favorite zines that you would like to recommend. I love anything put out by Bred Press, Tan & Loose Press, and Perfectly Acceptable.

What kind of zine do you want to write/create that you haven't explored yet? Why? (Topic, format, style, etc.)

I've focused on comics my whole life, and someday I would really like to collect some of my writing in a zine!

Do you have a zine crush?! If so, are you willing to reveal the object of your zine affection?

Samantha Andrews - Sam's Zines and Things

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Please tell us a little about the zines you'll be tabling at ABQZF8! 

Why did you create them? What are they about? My zines are about introspection, creativity, chasing dreams, and silliness. This year I'll debut my Creativity Workbook zine and maybe even an Oprah fan zine.

Why do you make zines? 

How did you get started? How long have you been making zines? I started making zines in 2015 after taking a class about curating and publishing literary and art publications. That year I also met Liza Bley who convinced me to participate in ABQZF5! I love making zines because they allow me to explore many topics and passions and I like having a tangible printed product to share with friends.

Tell us about one of your favorite zines that you would like to recommend.  Intersections by Olivia Hunte, T, and Gillian Brooke Kumm

What kind of zine do you want to write/create that you haven't explored yet? Why? (Topic, format, style, etc.)

I want to make a zine about how software development is punk and encourage more women and POC to get into the field.

Do you have a zine crush?! If so, are you willing to reveal the object of your zine affection? 

Yvette Serrano, a Santa Fe Zinester who always makes the most beautiful zines...

Cushy Space  

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Please tell us a little about the zines you'll be tabling at ABQZF8!  Why did you create them? What are they about?

Zines will have been made by various members of the Cushy community and will explore topics like spirituality, self-care, and span genres from poetry to memoir. 

Why do you make zines?

How did you get started? How long have you been making zines? I personally started making zines when I was 16 as a way to showcase my collage art. Cushy encourages our community to learn about and makes zines as a way of self-publishing and sharing creative gifts. Zines are fun, collaborative and hands on. 

Tell us about one of your favorite zines that you would like to recommend. 

Gosh, that’s a hard one, but Life Raft zine is definitely up there, as is Tiny Orbit.

What kind of zine do you want to write/create that you haven't explored yet? Why?  (Topic, format, style, etc.)

A short story zine! Zines that I and our community members have made are usually nonfiction or poetry. 

Do you have a zine crush?! If so, are you willing to reveal the object of your zine affection?  Oh sure! Sara Karola of Her Dirty Dishes and Pizza, Pets ana Nonsense. We love her!

DON’T MISS:

Harley Kirschner Art

Please tell us a little about the zines you'll be tabling at ABQZF8!  Why did you create them? What are they about?

I created Naked Butch as a response to claiming my wholeness both in repressed desires and repressed trauma. In transition my therapist told me not to talk about the sexual violence that I endured as a female because it feminized me. As a result, I disassociated and lived in my trauma convinced it wasn’t my story anymore. This zine is about how I am coming to find pleasure in my body and let go of the expectations and messages of toxic masculinity that society places on me as well as how I am learning to face my repressed trauma.

A safe place to pee is the handheld form of my zine installation at Winning coffee company, an installation about being trans and using public restrooms  and the bathroom bill.

Why do you make zines? 

How did you get started? How long have you been making zines? I began making zines 17 years ago as part of an anarchafeminist group in Upstate New York. I took a break for over a decade until the curator of a group show that I was part of suggested that I make a zine to go along with a painting that I was exhibiting. That zine gave my body of work (beautiful symbolist mixed media portraits of trans people) the strength that visuals alone couldn’t capture. Since then I have been using zines as a format for my artist statement. This year I have been getting into creating room sized zine installations. 

Zines create an approachable and raw narrative that is lacking in a lot of the art world. I want my art to be accessible to anyone, not just the people who can afford to purchase my work. The fine art world can often be pretentious and intimidating. I am seeking to change that in the way that I use art to communicate to the world, particularly people who can identify with my subject matter as a working class trans person.

Tell us about one of your favorite zines that you would like to recommend.

Hope: an HIV prevention zine by Terra Fox. I appreciate the approach of HIV prevention in an interesting, beautiful zine format. 

What kind of zine do you want to write/create that you haven't explored yet? Why?  (Topic, format, style, etc.)

I would like to create a zine installation with a group in a public place. I am really enjoying working with large scale printing and the feeling of being immersed in a zine. I am also interested in writing a zine about mindfulness. As someone who often writes about trauma, I would like to put out a zine that gives me a pause from a world that is often triggering to me.

Do you have a zine crush?! If so, are you willing to reveal the object of your zine affection?  I don’t have one particular zine crush but I’m in love with the variety in the zine library of Corpus Arts as well as the workshop that Melina Baron-Duetch facilitated in August.

List all social media, websites, or other online spaces where your work is displayed. *

Maggie, Zia Zine 

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Please tell us a little about the zines you'll be tabling at ABQZF8!

Why did you create them? What are they about? Issue #1 of Zia Zine, a quarterly project interviewing Albuquerque musicians & other local artists. 

Why do you make zines? 

How did you get started? How long have you been making zines? I started two months ago, this is my first and only zine, so far...

Tell us about one of your favorite zines that you would like to recommend.  

I really like the zines I find at Astro Zombies Comics, mostly fanzines covering varieties of Punk music and DIY subculture. Among those are Fluke, National Teenset Outsider, Not Like You, MRR. 

What kind of zine do you want to write/create that you haven't explored yet? Why? (Topic, format, style, etc.)

I want to make a zine with original art and ideas that trigger a euphoric experience when paired with certain music. Music creates more intense emotion and connection, so pairing it to imagery or reading material seems to draw endless possibilities. 

Do you have a zine crush?! If so, are you willing to reveal the object of your zine affection? 

Not really, I have a lot of admiration for anyone that can produce interesting zine/reading material. It’s inspiring, especially in this intimidating phase of naïveté.