For the last day before the zine releases, please enjoy @quirinah's artist statement! :U
"lately, as an animator and illustrator and casual fanboy/girl/whatever, I’ve been trying to really properly work through my relationship through the franchises I love to read and watch with the stories I choose to draw and tell. being an art student has been such a whirlwind experience for me because it’s one of the first times I’ve ever been able to talk to peers, across walks of life, who I can relate to as artists. being able to come back to a franchise that basically raised me when I was younger. I see a lot of that feeling of camaderie reflected in this absurdist, coming-of-age, post apocalyptic sci-fi comic about a bunch of teens across the universe coming together to love, lose, and play a video game. on a meta level, maybe there’s a parallel I want to draw between those years the beta kids were stuck on a ship hurling through space-time, working through their relationships, and being stuck in a dank computer lab at 5 in the morning for weeks on end animating, trying to figure out what exactly I wanted from this grueling journey I was putting myself through to finish a short film.
abstract sentimentalities aside! the background here is modeled after one of two animation-focused computer labs, affectionately known as the “party lab” because you go there moreso to hang out rather than lock in. technically, you’re not really supposed to bring food or drink, but there’s school cafeteria coffee and cup ramen and takeout from the 15 minute drive to the local In-N-Out anyway, because it’s late and everyone pays too much tuition to really give a damn. if you dim the lights at night, it basically kind of becomes like a group sleepover. Something something… it’s not much but it’s honest work :”D first to fall asleep will be added to Dave’s candid photo collection of napping college students. Based off a true story!!!"
Buy a copy of IRLstuck tomorrow to see the finished artwork, alongside many other beautiful pieces!
