Shanice Aga is a Khoja-American designer, and visual artist.
A trained architect and material culturalist,
Just some thoughts after reading My Picture Diary, 2024
So, when I read this review in BUBBLE’S I pretty much immediately bought it:
There’s a short essay in the back about who Fujiwara Maki is and some added context to the diary and her life before marrying Tsuge Yoshiharu - who I’ve never heard of but is apparently a manga legend. The things I like in general are usually made by people, (artists, authors, etc.) who are creating around themes I’m drawn to like memory, time, storytelling, perspective, shapeshifting... and I just get really into them no matter what their medium is...so I guess I’m not super knowledgeable about graphic novels or manga in general, but I like a few specific authors because of how they were used as a tool to get across this idea/feeling I’m always chasing.
Anyway, Tsuge’s life and accomplishments as a manga artist seem to have eclipsed his wife, Maki’s career/importance. While she was alive, Maki was never really celebrated for being an artist in her own right but often referred simply as his wife. But Maki seems way more interesting, ahead of her time, and more at the forefront of culture than Tsuge ever was or wanted to be. She was more of a true artist and, before marrying, was an avant-garde theatre actress in Japan in the 70’s.
Maki’s diary inspired me to start my own, although I’m still struggling to find a good style for the illustrations it’s been nice to get back into a habit of reflecting more on small things happening daily, I noticed usually when I write it’s about the past or what I want to happen in the future so focusing only on the events of a single day has been new.
Some quotes from Maki that were weirdly highly relatable to me:
“...I tremble with anxiety and a kind of hatred, to the point where I feel nauseous and like I might actually shit myself. I hold in the compounding emotions until I think they might explode, then suddenly leap out onto the stage as if a “second-self” has been born...it’s like I’m a new person being reborn out of my past self, or that I’ve become an insane version of myself...”
“...even if your theater is is your life with Tsuge, even if it’s not something others can watch, you are bound to burn brightly as a performer.”
“She was really self-conscious about being an artist.”