Editor’s Note: This story contains references to triggering material, including child abuse, alcoholism and sexual assault.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — North Carolina artist Kayla E. published her first book, “Precious Rubbish,” earlier this month. Her book tour includes a stop in Asheville tonight for an evening conversation at Malaprop’s Bookstore.
“Precious Rubbish” is an experimental graphic novel, collaging a decade’s worth of E.’s autobiographical comic strips into a red, blue and yellow cartoon kaleidoscope.
“‘Precious Rubbish’ is an experimental graphic memoir about my super traumatic childhood,” E. summarized. “It’s comprised of short vignette comics, sometimes single panel cartoons and then also stories that can be multiple pages long, like five or six page-long stories. There are also interactive elements in the book, so there are games and puzzles and paper dolls, word searches, activity pages, all sorts of things like that in there.”
E.’s strips resemble “Archie” digest comics and old “Popeye” cartoons in their retro simplicity, but their content is weightier than their pop art style might suggest: “Precious Rubbish” is a memoir of survival and abuse.
From child neglect to substance abuse to incest, E. explores her childhood memories through profound, bitter and darkly humorous comics.
There are several strips collected in “Precious Rubbish.” With titles like “Li’l Kayla,” the eponymous “Precious Rubbish,” “Canteen Kayla” and “A Mother’s Love,” E. tackles tough topics with a triumvirate of tones.
Depending on the strip, E. may only allude to a traumatic event, like in the yellow “advertisements” that populate several pages.
In another, E. might stare her horrors down with sardonic captions or tongue-in-cheek gallows humor, like in “House Arrest,” an activity on pages 84 and 85 labeled “a fun game!” but featuring captions like “Someone throws a rotten
cat corpse at your bedroom window. Move back three spaces.”
Other recurring series, like “The Prickly Bush,” pair E.’s spare art style with erudite literary and cultural references. The allusions are cited in an extensive bibliography in the back of her book.
“The Prickly Bush” takes its title and captions from the lyrics of a centuries-old folk ballad.
“For that old ballad, about this woman, she’s reaching out to her family to rescue her from getting hung and nobody’s willing to pay the hangman to absolve her,” E. described.
“They all just come to watch her die. And when I first heard that song, I was like, holy s–, this is the most poignant piece of art that really gets to the heart of what my family experience is like in a way I can’t articulate.”
These are the strips that get to the heart of what makes “Precious Rubbish” such a compelling memoir. The book is not only an exercise in exploring E.’s trauma, but a cultural cornucopia of her lived experiences.
“It’s exciting when it’s your own book. You can say whatever you want,” E. laughed. “You can bring in all the different things, from the Book of Job to ‘Little Lulu.’ I like reading all sorts of things and this book, I think, is a document that represents my varied interests as well.”
Despite the specificity of her experiences or references, the cartoonist sees her work as approachable for anybody.
“I believe in my readers. I think that this book can be read by anyone, at any level of comics literacy, because I think that comix is a language of its own,” E. explained. “With this project, I wanted it to be able to be entered by anyone. Anyone from any experience, from any background in comics or literature. But it also, there’s a depth to it, if you’re willing or interested in the extra work that goes along into it.”
While E. encourages her readers to take a deep dive into the memories she’s shared on the page, she found it difficult to do so herself.
“The creating of the work is just like I’m expunging green goo. I’m doing it, I wish I wasn’t doing it, sometimes I don’t do it and it feels like I’m holding in a sneeze until I get it out,” E. said. “The healing comes from, I have found, in the sharing of the work.”
The artist described the encounters she has had at conventions and tabling events, where readers from all kinds of backgrounds have shared the impact “Precious Rubbish” has had on them.
“It’s been worth it just for the few people that have read my mini-comics. The way that the work has mirrored their experiences, the way that it’s given shape and form and words for what they experienced, it’s actually become the center of my spiritual practice,” E. reflected. “Thinking about my experiences, my pain, my trauma as something that I’m able to claim and speak of, and as a result, be able to give that language to other people. For them to be able to speak of what happened to them.”
E. will next present “Precious Rubbish” at 6 p.m., Wednesday, April 16 at Malaprop’s Bookstore in downtown Asheville in conversation with local author Tessa Fontaine. A book signing will follow.
“Someone reading this and then picking up the book and seeing themselves reflected in it is, like, literally the most beautiful thing that I can imagine doing with my life,” E. smiled. “I have a lot of enthusiasm when I’m sharing about this work and have any opportunity to talk about it, and that has been extremely healing for me as well. Just that classic ‘I no longer feel alone,’ you know?”
Seats can be reserved for the Malaprop’s event here. The event can be accessed virtually here.
For more about Kayla E., visit her website, www.kaylaework.com.
For more about “Precious Rubbish,” visit www.preciousrubbish.com.
