Estrela d’Oeste, or “Star of the West” if you require a direct translation, is an autobiographical one-shot by Brazilian-Irish artist Ashling Larkin (also known as Ashling Draws) whose comics endeavours as co-founder of the CHIP Collective we have covered before at Broken Frontier. On that occasion we spoke to both Larkin and CHIP’s Cat Laird about their Working In: The Arts anthology. Estrela d’Oeste, however, is a far more personal project; one that Larkin describes as “a reflection on the Brazilian culture and heritage that my mum shared with me.”
Putting aside actual narrative for just a moment, the first thing the reader notices about Estrela d’Oeste is its sheer sense of design. Visually, Larkin roots this story of the relationship with her mother (and how she was impacted when she passed away from cancer) in a foundation of photo-realism. But at the same time her pages are attractively stylised, allowing us to feel connected to the veracity of events on one level but to be drawn in on a more instinctual, emotive one on another.
Memories of her time with her mother, for example, can intermingle and overlap on the page when she thinks in general terms. But when she recalls events in a more ordered fashion they become part of a structured presentation. Use of timing and white space to hit the most emotional beats of the story is also exemplary (a page early on where Larkin discovers the news of her mother’s cancer is bleakly affecting for her spartan use of the page).
What Larkin considers here is not simply the dynamics of the mother-daughter relationship – though the exploration of how the gap between them was significantly lessened in those last years is carefully recounted with a fragile quality – but as much about identity and finding one’s self. The xenophobia that both Larkin and her mother faced is underlined with a quietly powerful but unflinching honesty, yet this is not an account devoid of optimism. Larkin’s reconnection with her Brazilian heritage embraces a sense of hopefulness and multi-layered understanding.
A comic brimming with humanity Estrela d’Oeste was originally created as part of Larkin’s Masters degree. In both sentiment and presentation it is one of the most beautiful pieces of autobiography I have read here at Broken Frontier. That alone should be the highest recommendation.
Ashling Draws (W/A) • Self-published, £6.00
Review by Andy Oliver
