s v d

FAMILIES
2021

this comic with working title FAMILIES is a caleidoscopic, non-linear story, that weaves together love, capitalism, viruses, trauma, identity, healing, and family. a viral threat causes the characters to withdraw into their home, a space that provides them with spatial and emotional safety. their inner world slowly expands and the connection they have with their selfs gets renewed and strenghtened, enabling them to recognize the trauma they've been carrying with them for a long time. will they be able to start the healing process? by metabolizing a chaotic and insecure time, the comic will propose a new phase in life that's not defined by fear, but driven by hope and transformation.





DE STAD VAN MODDER EN BIER MUDBEERTOWN
home print, single copy, 76 pages, a4, dutch/english, colima (mx) 2006, maastricht (nl) 2008

a doubled story. in the first part, drawn in 2006, the protagonist reviews her stay in an unidentified country, where she contemplates escape. the story evolves into a road trip / thriller, leading up to the protagonist finding her niche and setting up a business. the second part, drawn two years later, follows the search for employment in a different part of the world. temp agencies, the office grind, and endless repetition make the main character question her life and she starts losing control. a confrontation with a familiar looking person escalates and it doesn't seem to end well for either of them...

 

 

MUDBEERTOWN #1 DREAMS OF SAGE AND BASIL
home print, 26 pages, a6, english, cavi (it) 2008

this story is a quest for the imaginary by weeding out daily routines in order to find visual or physical vignettes that bring comfort. it's about the narrator breaking down the painful relationship she has with herself and not shying away from what then lies before her: 'here i am, a body of shame, keeping myself awake. eating at the roots of what is solid: my conduct, my friendships. desperately hoping to find a path towards regeneration: a post-body of shame. until then, i remain the same.'

 

 

MUDBEERTOWN #2 A BODY
10 loose pages, a4, dutch, maastricht (nl) 2008

A BODY is a short story about having a body and going through ritualistic healthcare, which looks like a never ending road. physical and behavioral perfection isn't possible and shouldn't be entertained as an option, but the protagonist feels like she has to go through a series of tests in order to be deemed 'good'. evidently disappointment follows. the core of the story is how resisting an impossible system has no reward, and how hard it is to keep trying: 'a corporate flower, growing behind my back. its rude little head pushing against my ass, ignoring the layers: cotton, wool, skin. i could surrender to its cotton candy tentacles --- what will happen?' i wonder whether resistance or surrender are the only two options *grimace emoji*

 

 

TUNA BABY
home print, 38 pages, a6, dutch, maastricht (nl) 2006

based on a dream that coincided with the emotional preparation to end a relationship, this story shows a meeting of two women, a young one and a very old one, who seem to be a mirrored presence for each other. it's about loss and the realization of loss, the self deception of having lost and the self preservation of postponing the having to lose. i think that these two women meet each other halfway in time and space, that is, if they're not one and the same.

 

 

HET HOTEL MET DE PAPIEREN MUREN
home print, 12 pages, a6, dutch, maastricht (nl) 2004

a musing on desire and looking back.