I’m the type of person who really needs to be able to pursue multiple loves: I wouldn’t want to sacrifice one thing for the sake of another. And art has become one of these loves that I never want to have to sacrifice. As I’m pursuing medicine, I’m thinking about how to incorporate art into medicine. It’s a way to keep art alive for me, while simultaneously helping others.
What sort of art are you most interested in?
When I was younger, my parents made me take art classes. I really didn’t like them because I didn’t understand what art really meant to me then. It felt more like a chore than anything else. But then I got into digital art and especially comic books. I really love comic books. And then I started drawing more comic-book art. That’s when I really discovered that this is what I want to do. I’m hoping to maybe find a way to make something that educates people about health and other topics.
What is it about comic books that draws you to them?
Comic books have a great way of reaching out and touching people’s emotions. I feel that they offer a lot of insight into the human psyche and world events. There’s this one, it’s called Omega Men and it’s written by Tom King. What’s interesting is that when you read it, there are a lot of parallels with some of the events happening in the world, especially in the Middle East. It has this great ending where the main character talks about how comic panels can look like cages, making it easier for the reader to separate themselves from the story. As a result, we perceive the story or ‘the other side’ as something else, something savage, something evil. As if we’re something more civilized. But really, we are actually looking at a reflection of ourselves. We see it as if the story is something that could never happen in our world. But that’s not always true. I think reading comics has also gotten me more interested in the news and what’s happening in the world.
Is there something about comic books that you don’t like or you feel could be improved?
That’s a good question – I never thought of that. What I’m thinking about is quite biased but there is something I don’t like about what’s happening with certain characters’ development. Something I really like about comic books is that the characters never die. They exist for a long time and take part in various experiences and adventures. Writers often have creative liberties, so they can kind of choose to take the characters whichever way they want to go. But I feel that there needs to be some sort of underlying core of the character that remains the same. Something that’s constant. That shouldn’t be tampered with. […] This upsets me because you spend so long loving a character for whom they represent and then you start to question everything you’ve ever read about them!
Humans of 2T0 