You Are a Gift

Caitlin Skaalrud is a cartoonist, artist, and educator based in Minneapolis, MN. She publishes comics and zines under Talk Weird Press on various old printing presses. After receiving a BFA in Comic Art from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, she co-founded the Autoptic Festival with several other cartoonists. In 2021, she earned her MFA in Studio Art. She currently lives with her partner and two black and white cats in South Minneapolis. At this very moment, she’s probably looking for coffee.

Artist's Statement:

I become a medium through comics; I listen inwardly and communicate outwardly, and vice versa. I make an open space (the sheet) and ask a ghost (the reader) to cross time and space (the panel, the gutter) to visit me (the cartoonist) in the liminal space of meaning (the story) we construct together.

Project Statement:

‘You Are A Gift’ is a little piece of hope created in the winter of 2020 into 2021 meant to connect people at a safe distance. This zine combines a looping poem comic on the outside, in black and white, and unfolds into a full-color, abundant illustration of a spread of tarot cards urging hope, patience, and strength in a time of upheaval.

Visit Caitlin Skaalrud's website

IG: @talkweird