year of the dragon

Hello, reader.  How are you doing?  Happy year of the dragon.

I made this art on a religious tract.  Christians from the church across the street visited.  They gave residents here gift bags that included a $35 Grocery Outlet gift card, some fruits, a hat, a tea towel, a potholder, a large print new testament, these tracts.

The tracts seemed a great place to express some dragon energy.  I think the series is called Upset Dragons.

Second I made this art.  The dragon is curled up and sad.

Next up is a tract about the gospel.  I think they might look cool all three together.  But overall, not sure this is the kind of art I want on my wall to look at all the time.  Feels like too much suffering.

I’m carrying a lot of religious harm and pain, which I received as a girlchild being told in church and at Christian school that I was less powerful as female.  Then as a queer young person, I was told I was bad, for who I love.

My rage is coming out in dragons.  I’m a dragon, after all.  And I’m upset.

My feelings create a struggle that’s purposeful; I have faith I’ll come out the other side more stable: the person I need to be.  But right now in the middle of it, I can feel very uncomfortable.

tracts

I’m a writer, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.  And I was very Christian as a kid.  So tracts have a special place in my psyche.

What is a tract but a crappy mass-produced zine of propaganda for the Christian right?  I love zines.  I love packets of words that sail out into the world with unknown destinations.

But tracts are full of shame and damnation.  They prey on vulnerable people who are looking for direction and need saving.  Hopefully zines are doing something different from that.

questions for discussion

What do you want to make art on?

How do you like to transform your pain?

How do you tell the difference between comfort and self-harm?

Who would you be, if you were no longer afraid of becoming that which you despise?

What’s your favorite zine?

Are you a dragon also?