#illustrated work spaces

Art Holes: Bug Cru Art holes is a column where artists diagram their workspaces. This issue, illustrator and tattoo artist Bug Cru gives us a look.

My art space is a desk that is made from an unhinged door underneath a loft bed that a friend built for me for a skill trade.

It hides in my bedroom, which is also my studio, nestled up in the attic of a punk house called Lost Cause in south Vancouver. It’s by far the nicest space I’ve ever worked or lived in, so it feels like a blessing to capture it for this column.

I am a queer and trans visual artist from the West Coast. My media include drawing, illustration, permanent marks on skin, comics, posters, textiles and zines. I identify with Outsider Art, and aim to build relationships with that which is wild, ugly and abstract. My practice is an invitation to a navigation of gender, bodies, magic, trauma, human connection, capitalism and oppression. I draw because self-documentation is a vital tool for survival and empowerment, and sometimes it helps pay for groceries.

One of the highlights of last year with art endevours, was getting to participate in this column with Broken Pencil. Feel very glad to have had the opportunity to meet and tattoo their lovely editor Jonathon. Thanks so much.