For artists Maria Hoey and Leah Hayes, identity is both a subject to explore and something that keeps evolving. In the latest Picture + Panel conversation from the Boston Comics Arts Foundation, the two creators will discuss how their experiences shape their work, why identity can be fluid rather than fixed, and the freedom that comes with refusing to be just one thing.
The two creators will meet in person on Nov. 2 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Boston Figurative Arts Center, 285 Washington St, Somerville, MA 02143.
Hoey, who collaborates with her brother on graphic novels, explores identity through surrealism and transformation. In The Shadower, a spy thriller set in a country emerging from a brutal civil war, protagonist Nadia must impersonate another woman to carry out a mission, blurring the boundaries between the self and the person she must become.
Hayes approaches identity through her work across comics, music and illustration, as well as her experience as an identical twin. She sees creativity as a process of reconnecting with yourself while trying new things — less a matter of reinventing yourself completely than allowing yourself to grow.
In the conversation below, Hoey and Hayes reflect on the artists and films that have influenced them, the labels they resist, and why identity doesn’t have to be a fixed destination.
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