Outside the Lines | Miss Anthology
White Gallery | September 3 - 28, 2017
Reception: Thursday September 21, 5 - 7pm
Curated by Eddie Garland
Outside of the Lines brings together a diverse selection of comic art and literature created by the members and instructors of Miss Anthology Comics. The exhibit highlights the nuanced and multi-faceted investigations of a wide variety of topics including depression, disability, gender, and race through the lens of sequential art.
Miss Anthology’s mission is to support racially and economically diverse female and genderqueer youth by teaching professional skills through hands-on workshops, and publishing their work in print and online. By introducing these young artists and writers to the comics and the art industries before they graduate, they will gain a firm understanding and head start on their careers, as well as an established network of peers within this otherwise white, cis male-dominated field.
Miss Anthology consists of:
Jenny Blenk | For the past two years Jenny has worked with series like Hawkeye, Daredevil, and Iron Man to analyze how characters’ disabilities have been represented in superhero comics over the course of American history, in coordination with social perception of disability. Jenny graduated from Portland State University in June of 2017 with an MA in English a Certificate in Comics Studies, and is currently preparing several pieces of her academic writing for publication. At the moment she is also working on an autobiographical graphic memoir about queerness, disability, and everyday life with a service animal. She is based in Portland and lives with five houseplants, a typewriter, and a little black rabbit named Bernadette.
Liz Yerby | Liz Yerby is a Portland-based cartoonist whose work explores themes of mental health and being queer, which means they are mostly writing about crying and feeling out of place. Their work has been published in 1001: A Literary Journal and Vision Quest Journal. They help organize the Portland Zine Symposium, and are a proud member of the Sound Grounds Wreckin’ Cru, a local comics collective.
Anna Vo | Anna Vo is a Portland-based Vietnamese anarchist, musician, comic artist, comedian, black metal label runner (An Out Recordings), and writer. Their work is aimed at dismantling exploitative manifestations of white supremacy, capitalism and the heteronormative patriarchy.
Melanie Stevens | Melanie Stevens is an artist, illustrator and writer. She received her BA in Political Science from Yale University and her MFA in Visual Studies at Pacific Northwest College of Art. She enjoys ice cream, terrible reality television programming, and challenging societal norms and belief systems with visual and literary narratives. She also believes that no one is free until we all get free.
Emily Lewis | Emily Lewis is an illustrator from Coldspring, TX. Her work explores psychological trauma and learning disorders through sci-fi and fantasy narratives. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fibers and Textiles from Texas State University and her Master of Fine Arts in Contemporary Art Practice:Studio Practice from Portland State University. Lewis has published her illustrations and comics in zine collectives, history books, graphic novels, and is currently working on a mini-comic series titled Nebulous. She has exhibited her work in galleries and academic institutions nationally and has been awarded residencies in Texas and Oregon. Emily is a Co-Founder, designer, editor, and administrator of Miss Anthology. She lives in Portland, OR with her husband, cat, and dog.