Fiona Smyth

...a previous equality and equilibrium which never existed.

Can you tell us about what you wanted to convey with this piece of artwork? What were some inspirations or ideas you wanted to consider when you were creating it?
 
I was initially overwhelmed with how to approach this work. Reconciliation is not easy to discuss, even just the meaning of the word is hugely problematic. It suggests a previous equality and equilibrium which never existed.

Thematically I wanted to discuss that difficulty and how there is no singular answer and that each of us, especially as settlers, must find a way. I also wanted to juxtapose the import of the Indigenous artists in the conversation, to take the focus off myself in an effort to bend the autobiographical cartooning norm of severe internal introspection- the lonesome thinker/sufferer. I wanted to celebrate some of the Indigenous artists who have affected my life though their art, to let them take visual prominence in the strip.
 
Why is reconciliation as a theme important to you?
 
It’s an important theme to me as a Canadian/settler and as an artist whose personal work is about trauma and a how the body reveals its history even without speaking it. Canada considers itself a moral and ethical leader in the world but look to our treatment of Indigenous peoples and you will see the hypocrisy and lies. The last residential school closed in 1996. 1996!
 
What was the creative process like in creating this artwork? (Do you map it out in a plan beforehand, do you work on text first and then illustration or vice versa? You can also talk about the medium or methods you use in creating the work.)
 
I usually look at the format first- set up a grid and then work within or beyond the original constraint. For this strip I created a very tight grid and imagined the number of artists I would include. At first the opening and closing panels had different images but then I figured I could include two more artists and conceptually that made more sense. Other solutions were completing the last panel with me holding a sign reading “and take action” but that felt superficial, to be honest my actions are in the classroom or in painting or a comic. I also thought of portraying myself working on the comic within the last panel but that would suggest this comic was the answer, which it is not.

I wrote a script and finessed it along the way even in the last iterations of the comic. I drew and coloured in Procreate and then added lettering in Photoshop. I have been working more digitally in the last few years and I’m new to Procreate in the last 6 months.
 
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
 
Check out the artists included in The Answer, some you may know already.