Bianca Xunise
Bianca Xunise | |
---|---|
Born | Chicago, Illinois, U.S.[1] |
Education | BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Illinois at Chicago[2] |
Occupation(s) | Cartoonist, illustrator, adjunct professor at DePaul University[2] |
Notable work | Six Chix |
Awards | 2018 Ignatz Award for "Promising New Talent"[2] |
Website | biancaxunise |
Bianca Xunise is an American cartoonist, illustrator, and self-described "goth of color". Her work is nationally-syndicated through the Six Chix comic strip collaborative.[1]
Early life
Xunise was born in Chicago to artistic parents; her mother was a fashion designer.[1][3] Her family has Creole roots.[3] She started as a fashion blogger, but quit "because they didn’t want to indict George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin case and after that I realized I [didn’t] care what I’m wearing anymore."[4]
Career
Xunise's influences include Finnish artist Tove Jansson, Austrian children's book illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans, and Japanese manga artist Naoko Takeuchi.[3] She credits her professional start in comics to online community for women Hello Giggles, which gave her a column in 2015.[5] Xunise had been featured in the Nib and Shondaland when King Features Syndicate asked her to create a Popeye tribute strip.[6] In 2018 she won the Ignatz Award for "Promising New Talent" for her self-published "Say Her Name" , which deals with the anxiety of being black in America.[7]
In 2020, she became the second black woman contributing to a nationally syndicated strip, when she became one of the Six Chix.[5][6] She was preceded in this distinction by Barbara Brandon-Croft, whose daily strip Where I'm Coming From was nationally syndicated from 1991 to 2005.
References
- ^ a b c Nittle, Nadra (23 Oct 2017). "Meet the Black Girls of Goth". Vox. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- ^ a b c Arrant, Chris (2 Jan 2020). "BIANCA XUNISE Teaching 'Making Comics' Course at Chicago's DePAUL UNIVERSITY". Newsarama. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- ^ a b c Gore, Sydney. "BIANCA XUNISE MAKES '60S-INSPIRED COMICS FOR MODERN TIMES". Biana Xunise makes '60s-inpired comics for modern times. Nylon Magazine.
- ^ Haparimwi, Charlene (8 Dec 2016). "Finding a New Voice: Bianca Xunise". Hooligan Mag. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ a b Rockett, Darcell (24 Feb 2020). "Lincoln Square's Bianca Xunise becomes first black cartoonist for 'Six Chix' comic strip; Southland native to visit C2E2". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ a b Michael, Cavna (20 Apr 2020). "Newspaper comics hardly ever feature black women as artists. But two new voices have arrived". Washington Post. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
- ^ Cavna, Michael. "SPX Ignatz Award nominees: Books tackling bigotry top 'the Spirit Awards of comics'". 17 Aug 2017. Washington Post. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
External links
- Official website
- "Say Her Name" - on Southsideweekly.com
- Living people
- American comic strip cartoonists
- American illustrators
- Artists from Chicago
- 21st-century American women artists
- 21st-century American artists
- American female comics artists
- American people of Creole descent
- Ignatz Award winners
- University of Illinois at Chicago alumni
- DePaul University faculty
- American women illustrators
- African-American comics creators
- African-American illustrators
- American women cartoonists