I was drawn to this project because my mom spent a large part of her childhood in the BC Children’s Hospital, and I felt called to help turn up the volume on the stories of children and families that are often not heard. My comic is an abstract exploration of the alienation and misunderstandings that came across in caregivers’ stories of navigating a lifetime of appointments with specialists and other medical professionals, and also the judgement and opinions of strangers whenever going out in public. What really stood out was how these kids just want to be kids, to have fun and explore and go on adventures and to make new friends in a world that is not always so friendly.
Natasha Gauthier is a white and Indigenous hybrid writer and visual artist who lives on the unceded/stolen land of the Qayqayt First Nation and Coast Salish peoples, commonly known as “New Westminster, BC.” She is the Prose Editor for PRISM International and an MFA candidate at UBC. She’s a cool mom, a punkish aunty, and a lover of all things strange and unusual.