In 2022/2023 I spent a year in Montreal. I was struggling with various visual art ideas, while also trying to figure out the political and cultural tensions unique to Quebec. The idea that took shape most organically and spontaneously was a story written from the perspective of a 10-year-old girl trying to navigate the same world and ideas that I was navigating at the time.
The story starts out in form of a homework assignment by a 10-year-old girl who has recently moved to Montreal. As she researches, draws and writes about Eurasian Collared Doves, she begins to identify more and more with them. The report becomes a diary as she struggles to make sense of the things people are saying around her, and when she finds they are listed as an invasive species the birds become a metaphor for human migration.
I am now working on turning it into a graphic novel. What you see here are early development sketches and collages. Scroll to the bottom to find the full 14-page story.