Aisha Franz – författare

German cartoonist Aisha Franz's debut graphic novel de--tails a few short days in the life of two sisters and their single mother. Set in a soulless suburb populated by block after block of identical row houses bordered by empty fields and an industrial no-man's land, Earthling explores the loneliness of everyday life through these women's struggle to come to terms with what the world expects of them. Earthling unveils a narrative rich with surrealist twists and turns, where the peas on the dinner plate and the ads on television can both literally and figuratively speak to the most private strife and deepest hopes in a person's life. As the sisters begin to come to terms with their sexuality, they are confronted by harsh realities and a world that has few escape routes for young women. Drawn in deep grey pencil, the claustrophobia of Franz's crosshatching and smudging matches the tone of the book perfectly. Earthling is an atmospheric and haunting account of the inevitability of losing the dream worlds of childhood.

A cutting portrayal of the pursuit of work-life balance from the cartoonist of Shit is Real. To achieve the proper work-life balance perhaps we just need the right therapist to coach us through our day-to-day. Anita, Sandra, and Dex have ambitions. Anita wants to move from making utility ceramics to fine art sculpture but her pent up dissatisfaction results in an outburst that puts her studio mate s work at risk. Sandra juggles her practical administrative day job at a startup with her wellness influencer channel, finding both in jeopardy when a messy affair with her coworker comes to light. In another corner of the same startup, Dex s innovative ideas are rejected, leading him to spend his days hacking and working as a bike courier. All three are disillusioned with their daily grinds. As the pressure for self-improvement builds they all end up looking to the same therapist for answers. Soon the boundaries between work and life begin to bleed into each other and it becomes increasingly impossible to find balance. All the solace the characters expect their therapist to provide is obscured by her quirks, whims, and psycho-parlance, leading to sessions that are neglectful at best and actively inhibit growth at worst. In striking colors and trippy transformational sequences, Aisha Franz captures the comedic absurdity of contemporary work-life and wellness culture.

To achieve the proper work-life balance perhaps we just need the right therapist to coach us through our day-to-day. Anita, Sandra, and Dex have ambitions. Anita wants to move from making utility ceramics to fine art sculpture but her pent up dissatisfaction results in an outburst that puts her studio mate’s work at risk. Sandra juggles her practical administrative day job at a startup with her wellness influencer channel, finding both in jeopardy when a messy affair with her coworker comes to light. In another corner of the same startup, Dex’s innovative ideas are rejected, leading him to spend his days hacking and working as a bike courier. All three are disillusioned with their daily grinds. As the pressure for self-improvement builds they all end up looking to the same therapist for answers.Soon the boundaries between work and life begin to bleed into each other and it becomes increasingly impossible to find balance. All the solace the characters expect their therapist to provide is obscured by her quirks, whims, and psycho-parlance, leading to sessions that are neglectful at best and actively inhibit growth at worst. In striking colors and trippy transformational sequences, Aisha Franz captures the comedic absurdity of contemporary work-life and wellness culture.Work-Life Balance is translated from the German by Nicholas Houde.

Wie illustriert man etwas, das für uns alle äußerst privat, intim und einzigartig ist? Sex ist dem Menschen von Natur aus eingeschrieben – und doch kulturell eines der am stärksten bearbeiteten Themen des Lebens. Er verbindet und trennt uns, ruft die heftigsten Emotionen hervor, kann Identitäten schaffen und Schicksale entscheiden. Im Sex verschmelzen alle Aspekte des Daseins auf vielfältige und immer individuelle Weise. Sex ist als Thema allgegenwärtig, aber für ein Illustrationsmagazin dennoch eine große Herausforderung.In der aktuellen Ausgabe von SPRING stellen sich 14 Zeichnerinnen dieser Herausforderung. In ihren Comics, Illustrationen und Texten schildern sie die Evolutionsgeschichte der Sexualität, lassen uns an persönlichen Erlebnissen aus der Pubertät teilhaben, berichten vom alltäglichen Sexismus, fragen, was eigentlich die Abwesenheit von Körperlichkeit mit uns macht, und setzen sich generationenübergreifend mit weiblicher Identität auseinander. Unterhaltsam und offen flanieren sie visuell durchs Thema, erzählen uns von digitalen Vulven, von der Verschmelzung in der Malerei und vom japa­nischen Fest der Liebe.