Monica McKelvey Johnson
Interviewed by Kelly Bentz
Monday October 5th, 2020
Kelly: Could you start off by giving some background about yourself and what you do?
Monica: . . .Yeah, so growing up my dad was a freelance artist so that is kind of where I got some inspiration. . . I had student debt and ultimately founded the student debtor support group. I moved to New York. . . saw occupy Wall Street. . .eventually found a bigger community of artists. . .became a comic “zienster” and curator with a feminist perspective.
Kelly: What inspired you to get into your work?
Monica: well, hm okay-
Kelly: Sorry, I know that is a broad question, but here you have some more liberty in how you want to answer them!
Monica: Well to start, I *chuckles* hate capitalism and the systematic oppression we can experience.
Kelly: Speaking of systematic oppression, what role do you think your art plays in resistance to oppression, social justice and social issues, and (everything our nation is going through) at the moment?
Monica: I have collected bits of varying information on these issues . I have affiliated with ideas and support causes, and I work directly with organizations (like Interference Archive) with my work and through broader participation.
Kelly: Expanding further on this, what are your thoughts on your work during (these times), for example, BLM, the pandemic?
Monica: You know, I acknowledge the oppression obviously. Everyone is relevant. . .intersectionality plays a large part. . .
Kelly: shifting into a new topic, how do you get inspired?
Monica: There is a certain healing through that writing process that being authentic can bring. Healing with tools you already have, creating a message, sharing my own experience. I have found a lot of inspiration through female role models, growing up some of my favorite things to watch were Punky Brooster and Annie.I enjoy “trashy TV” . . .
Kelly: How do you know if you are successful in delivering your message and have you ever experienced any negative feedback or had anyone disagree with your work? If so, how do you process that?
Monica: I don't know, I don't really care to be honest. I do projects to process how complex and complicated the world is. Processing how and where you identify and learning how to engage with that is crucial. How to engage and value emotions (internally). I had one personal experience where I was analyzing the people around me and the environment around me, when she was on the subway. I was pregnant at the time, and it was interesting to see who offered their seats to me. In some ways it was kind of like a social experiment, to see who stood up and offered me a seat. What kind of person did? Who didn’t? what kind of socio economic class do they appear to be in? you can read further on this in my work “Riding For Two."
*Special thank you to Monica McKelvey Johnson for taking the time to talk with me and being willing to share more about her work. She was very informative and professional!