Mini Monster Girl Blog

This week’s Monster Monday is on Maureen Burdock, an absolutely amazing visual artist and author that I’ve recently been introduced to. I’m going to do my best to get as many of her gorgeous drawings into this feature, but I recommend you all go to Maureen’s website to check her entire portfolio.  As with everything on monstergirlmedia.net click the image to enlarge and see it in all its glory!

Maureen Burdock, born in Germany in 1970, emigrated to the United States at age seven with her mother to escape domestic violence. She spent much of her childhood in the museums of Chicago, absorbing the work of artists who imbued their canvases with the intention and power to change minds: WWII era activist artists such as John Heartfield, Hannah Hoch, and Käthe Kollwitz; surrealist and magical realist artists like Leonora Carrington and Frida Kahlo; and contemporary feminist artists such as Judy Chicago and Barbara Kruger.

By age eight, Burdock’s own content-driven art emerged as a way to cope with immigration, incest, and the resulting sexual confusion. Later, her art teacher ordered her to keep a life-size nude self-portrait in a closet at her high school, which confirmed the young artist’s growing suspicion that she was going to be an outsider in the art world.

Maureen’s recent work is through the medium of the graphic novella because it allows her to “incorporate psychological depth, humor, and political savvy.” I’ve seen her work, and trust me, she does.

The F Word project is the series of Maureen’s graphic novellas. The stories are amazing because they all feature superheroines who are living in a culture whose current traditions “cause women hardship, despite which they emerge strong and triumphant.”

As a comics and graphic novel fan it’s absolutely enlightening to see a series that focuses on the struggles of women worldwide – it not only addresses issues, but pushes on the need to eliminate the injustices.

The F Word project began in response to the femicides in Juárez, Mexico, which began in the early 1990s and has since won an award from Judy Chicago/Through the Flower for New Mexico Feminist Artists under 40.

The F Word provides inspirational role models for women by focusing on archetypes of strong women with solutions. In addition to the depiction of problems, the intelligence and goodness of human nature that make change possible are emphasized through the use of humor and engaging artwork.

Her hope is that these novellas will help increase awareness of women’s struggles worldwide and eliminate injustices by providing archetypes of strong women with solutions.

Maureen has three F Word books available through her website to order: Marta & the Missing, Mona & the Little Smile, and Maisa & the Bad Muslim Girls. Actually, Maisa is so hot off the presses, it might not even be ready to order yet!

You can also check out her at the Brooklyn Museum Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art Base.

Marta & the Missing: This first F Word Fable deals with the periodic rape and murder of girls and women in Juarez, Mexico, over the last decade. In this novella, Marta and Pepito, a dog with a strong sense of ethics and humor, are visited by Alma, a ghost of the disappeared, who leads them to sites where violence is about to occur. Marta learns that, by standing together, the victims and their families can end this nightmare.

Mona & the Little Smile: This second F Word Fable deals with the problem of childhood sexual abuse. Mona & the Little Smile is the story of Mona, a German immigrant girl who comes to America, where she survives sexual abuse. By discovering art, Mona reshapes herself into a superheroine who helps other children transmute their experiences of abuse. Mona and her friends hone their magical skills and turn the perpetrators into mushrooms. This novella opens and closes with oil portraits of pedophiles as mushrooms.

Maisa & the Bad Muslim Girls: This third F Word Fable addresses the issue of so-called honor killings, perpetrated by Muslim men when they feel that a female relative is being too sexually independent. In this novella, Maisa, the ghost of a Turkish woman, struggles to protect her daughter, whose life is threatened by her uncle. Maisa, with help from the spirits, teaches her daughter and other Muslim women recipes from their countries of origin—Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan—with which the women can make themselves invisible and escape death. But in order to become visible again, they must find each other and share their recipes.