“I’m incredibly honoured to be a part of ‘The Inking Woman’ exhibition. It’s a vibrant, empowering collection of works that show the humour and passion that women have drawn on over the years; powerful illustrative and narrative work, that surpasses trends and time.” – Rozi Hathaway
‘The Inking Woman’ – spotlighting 250 years of British women cartoonists – opened at London’s Cartoon Museum last week to great acclaim. From household names to enthusiastic self-publishers to historical figures from the medium’s rich past, the exhibition has a truly celebratory zeal to it. It runs until July 23rd and you can get full details on admission, opening times and directions from the museum site here.
With so many of the exhibition’s contemporary artists having been featured extensively here at Broken Frontier (and a number of them getting their very first coverage on this site) it seems only fitting that we support ‘The Inking Woman’ with a series of BF blog posts linking back to some of our key coverage of individual featured creators – with images selected by the artists themselves!
Today we begin with an obvious choice in Rozi Hathaway (above banner image with BF Editor-in-Chief Andy Oliver). That’s because Rozi’s piece in ‘The Inking Woman’ – a page from her poignant short story ‘Afloat’ – is from our first Broken Frontier Small Press Yearbook, a showcase anthology for our initial group of ‘Six Small Press Creators to Watch!’ on the site in 2015.
As a member of that incredibly talented half dozen, Rozi has been a regular presence here over the last couple of years and been part of the Broken Frontier contingent at a number of shows and events. Earlier this year she was voted our 2016 Broken Frontier Award winner in the Breakout Talent category by the site’s readers and staff. Her most recent comic Cosmos & Other Stories was published by Good Comics.
Rozi’s work has an often dreamlike quality to it and an emotional connectivity with the reader that is profound and enduring. Her recurring explorations of themes of loneliness and the power of the imagination speak to us on a powerfully empathetic level with mood and tone accentuated by her always careful and subtle colouring choices.
‘Afloat’ – A page from Rozi’s Broken Frontier Small Press Yearbook story currently on show at the Cartoon Museum
You can find out more about the comics – both self-published and otherwise – of Rozi Hathaway in the links below but, as a final thought, it’s worth noting that no less an authority than Warren Ellis has described her self-published comic Njálla as “a remarkably pure piece of fabulist storytelling”…
Cosmos & Other Stories (above) – a collection of shorts – was published by Good Comics earlier this year
Key Broken Frontier Reviews
HOAX Psychosis Blues (2014) – Graphic memoir anthology written by Ravi Thornton with art by Karrie Fransman, Hannah Berry, Mark Stafford, Bryan Talbot et al. Published by Ziggy’s Wish. “Visual storytelling that is assured in poise and confident in technique – an artist to keep an eye out for I feel.”
Njálla (2016) – Self-published. “A stunning synthesis of unearthly mystery and endearing innocence, Njálla underlines once again the subtle potency at the heart of Hathaway’s craft.”
Ø (2016) – Self-published. “A wistful and tender tale that fuses the everyday and the ethereal into a magical yet familiar examination of childhood affection and loneliness.”
Cosmos & Other Stories (2017) – Published by Good Comics. “Cosmos & Other Stories isn’t a comic you read. It’s a comic you feel. A simple statement, perhaps, but one that fully embodies the empathetic power of Rozi Hathaway’s storytelling.”
Rozi’s first longer-form narrative Njálla examined the myths and legends of the Sámi people
Key Broken Frontier Features
Interview with Rozi Hathaway (2015) – “The feeling I strive for in my work is pure emotion, whether it’s sad, depressingly sad, or heart-warming and I think that strong emotions are better portrayed with a limited narrative as you can really feel the silence.”
Interview with Rozi Hathaway (2016) – “Use every single moment of glory to create new things and show them off to anyone who’ll listen.”
‘Inside Look’ Creator Commentary (2015) – Rozi discusses her creative process on pages from her self-published comic The Red Road, HOAX Psychosis Blues and her contributions to anthologies A Bit of Undigested Potato and Dirty Rotten Comics.
A Self-Publisher’s Guide to Building Your Small Press Comics Profile (2016) – Rozi gives advice to new small pressers as part of Broken Frontier’s ‘State of the Small Press Nation‘ series.
The always effective Hathaway use of colour – this time in her short comic Ø
For more on ‘The Inking Woman’ visit the Cartoon Museum site here and follow them on Twitter here. The Broken Frontier Small Press Yearbook is available in the museum’s shop or online here.
For more on the work of Rozi Hathaway check out her site here and follow her on Twitter here. You can visit her online store here and also buy Cosmos & Other Stories from Good Comics here.
[…] Woman exhibition, is accompanied by a selection of new images from my existing work chosen by me. So, read the article and have a gander! Here’s my quote from being a part of the […]