Tulani Reeves-Miller

Media Arts & Sciences major

I make art to be less lonely and to comfort lonely people. My prints, artist books, drawings, comics, and digital drawings are sincere transcriptions of my thoughts and feelings. Creating representations of the people I want to see in media - gay people, Black people, fat people - keeps me motivated to create. Drawn to hope and melancholy, I balance themes of isolation and connection in my soft, magical work with traces of sadness. Though I am drawn to cool tones and pastel colors when creating, my work is warm with understanding.

Being _________

digital comics, website, mixed media installation

Jewett Gallery

grid of alternating blue and purple post-it notes with various figures drawn on them

Cartooning continually deviates from reality, even in stories that wish to reflect it.

Identity is an essential part of how we connect to other people and get to know ourselves. This work is an exploration of representation and identity in different visual mediums and the effects of interaction and how it feels to move thorugh the world as a Black queer person interested in science and technology.

Each story has autobiographical elements because I wanted the stories to focus on a unique experience at Wellesley, which is that of being Black, queer, and in a STEM major. Identity is complicated. Each story deals with a unique element of identity, whether it is shedding an identity that does not serve you, embodying an identity as part of a team, or accepting that you fit into an identity you did not previously consider for yourself. Sometimes, we wait to feel like an identity truly fits us. I am an adult, an artist, a writer, a scientist. As people grow, we expand our understanding of who we are and what we can accomplish. These stories are for college students of color in STEM and for those who have sturggled with feelings of not belonging.

The focus is letting go of the need to be independent and the shame that comes from not knowing the answers while embracing receiving help to move forward in life, as it saves time and creates connections with other people.

two folded paper zines, yellow covers with blue text reading 'I WANT TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING' on piled paper with cut paper diamonds

balls of green and gray yarn sitting on a table with green cut paper heart shapes with cut-out text reading 'KEEP ME CLOSE'

close up on sketchbook open to pages with text and loose drawings planning out comics

excerpt from a comic drawing in black, white, and blue, depicting two characters interacting in a study session-type environment

installation view of a small desk and computer chair in a gallery corner with blue/purple post-it grid and various small prints on wall, string hung around it; on the desk are balls of yarn, small booklets, paper, and a laptop

part of the shoulder and hand of a person sitting at a black laptop, screen displaying a comic; in the background are blue and purple post-its with characters drawn on them

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