Using comic design to touch hearts
- Design
Drawing is a way for Nova de Hoo (22) to express herself. During the Comic Design course, she learned how to share her work with the world and talk about it. “I don’t have to show a ‘finished’ product first. The process leading up to it is much more important”, says Nova. She's in the last year of Comic Design at ArtEZ Academy of Art & Design Zwolle. “I’ve also noticed that I want to use my drawing skills to tell stories that touch me. Just like my finals work which is about the world of sex workers in South Africa.”
“This course really changes you as a person. Not only do I have more knowledge, but I also improved the way to express myself. I come from a small village in Brabant, where free expression wasn’t that common. I need this development and clear communication”, she says. Nova learned to share her work and her story at Comic Design. When she started the course, she was quite insecure about herself and didn’t dare to ask for feedback. After her first year, she knows she’s not on her own and she can continue to learn.
Finals work based on research
Nova’s finals work deals with a major political and historical subject: the world of sex workers in South Africa. She wanted to take this on based on her interest in politics, history and feminism. She grew up with immigrants from South Africa in her village, which allowed her to experience the culture up close. For Nova, it feels like an important story to tell. She did a lot of research and felt informed enough to share it. “I fully understand if people wonder why I'm telling this story, as a white woman. I'm trying to comprehend the real situation in South Africa and its history."
Use drawings to tell a story
An important part of her research concerns the role the Netherlands played in South Africa. How Western culture was implemented in South Africa can still be seen today, according to Nova. Christian belief predominates, instead of the tribal culture that was originally there. Many women of colour are victims of this, including the sex workers.
I wanted to tell their stories, they work there illegally, experience a lot of fear and aren’t accepted. Through SWEAT, an organisation providing legal support to sex workers, I arranged an interview with one of the sex workers there. It was online, because unfortunately, I didn’t have the means to fly to South Africa. I shared my intentions and showed drawings for my book. She thought the drawings were very appropriate and she conformed I did a good job to pay attention to this issue."
Nova de Hoo
Finals work as a starting point for more
To complete her finals work, she watched many interviews on the subject and read up on the history of the country. She also wanted to maintain the feeling that it was important what the sex workers wanted to say. “I mainly shared the story from her perspective. I didn’t want to make it too broad, because then it would get confusing and too ambitious. I especially wanted to convey the feeling of powerlessness and fear at work. It’s an impression of her feelings and my amazement to the fact that the world is like this. It portrays a day in the life of a sex worker, in which she also gets arrested by the police. She's terrified. It all blows over, to show there’s hope. I hope to do more stories in the future and go to South Africa. I have a lot of ideas that I would like to carry out.”
Nova's finals work is shown at the Academy of Art & Design Zwolle's finals exposition van Nova from June 29 juni to July 9 2023
