Center for the Arts Eagle Rock (CFAER) hosted artists as they displayed laminated, printed, cut and folded mixed-media zines Feb. 8. According to Events Coordinator Melinda Ann Farrell, this is the second year that CFAER has hosted their Crushes Art Show & Zine Fest, which invites artists from around the community to showcase their work.
“It’s open to everybody,” Farrell said. “Zines are just a wonderful vehicle for people to express themselves.”
Miquela Davis, the arts education coordinator at CFAER, said the center experienced emptiness in the post-COVID years, so she wanted to implement more events open to the community. According to Davis, zine festivals have an accessible, DIY feel that encourages everyone to try creating a zine.
Davis said she first thought of the idea for Crushes in 2018 and wanted to give the community a space to hang out and not be alone on Valentine’s Day.
“It celebrates love overall, and bringing that love to your community,” Davis said.
To become a vendor at the Crushes Art Show & Zine Fest, applicants submitted samples of their artwork to demonstrate how they apply to the show’s conceptual theme of love, according to Davis and Farrell. Davis said the administration makes an effort to fit in as many artists as they can.
Farrell said she wanted the festival to serve as a safe place for people enduring hardship. She said the event donated proceeds and artwork from the festival to mutual aid benefitting those affected by the LA County fires.
“So what can you do? Meaning the universal ‘you’ – us,” Farrell said. “What can we do to help people feel safe and give them joy while [the fires are] happening?”
According to Farrell, community events such as these allow new artists to introduce themselves to the community and build their portfolios.
“It’s an honor having artists come in and share what’s meaningful to them with you,” Farrell said. “And then you in turn are sharing it with the community.”
T Torres, part-time artist and founder of Goopy Banana Co, said their simple illustrations of recurring heart characters resonated with their audience through a theme of connection.
“It’s a reminder that things are finite,” Torres said. “You may not have a lot of time with people, so enjoy it while you can.”
Rebecca Ustrell, mixed media artist and founder of Curious Publishing, exhibited her first solo collection of pieces at the Crushes Festival. According to Ustrell, her solo work focuses on age and loss, whereas her work in Curious Publishing emphasizes empathy, activism and social justice issues.
“If I had two exhibitor spaces, they would probably have two completely separate identities,” Ustrell said.
Ustrell said for the Valentine’s Day theme, she chose to embody self-love rather than romantic love. While she explores more external social justice issues in her work with Curious Publishing, Ustrell said she is able to be more introspective in her personal work.
“I find making zines and my art practice as revisiting myself,” Ustrell said.
Denise McKinney, an artist from Southern California, said she bridges the gap between local history and vintage restaurants in her zine “Eat Me.” McKinney said her zines fit the theme of Valentine’s Day as love centers around food and food centers around love. According to McKinney, feelings around food and love are not exclusively positive or negative.
“You can go out to eat on a date, and then the date’s terrible,” McKinney said. “But you’re going to remember what you ate in the restaurant.”
Stephenson Muret, zine artist and author who goes by John Dishwasher in his artistic practice, collects and redecorates vintage zines in addition to his original creations. A particular Valentine’s-themed vintage zine Muret displayed was “How We Kiss.” Muret said the zine is about the difficulty of navigating nightlife as a queer person.
“If you’re in a nightclub, straight people can kiss on the dance floor, and it’s not a problem, but if you’re queer then it becomes a problem,” Muret said. “This is about being able to express love openly with whomever.”
Rachel Curry is an artist and art educator who displayed her zines at the festival. Curry said she met her wife at the LA Zine Festival and that the zine community has been an open and welcoming space since she started creating and displaying zines in 2013.
“You’re literally putting your heart on the table,” Curry said. “There’s barriers for who can be an artist or what is good art, and zines are all about embracing the imperfection […] As long as you’re making something with your heart, that’s art.”
According to Torres, Instagram remains a popular vehicle for the arts and zine community of LA, providing networking opportunities and growth of their personal brand.
McKinney said that, even in the growing digital age, preserving and appreciating physical art is vital.
“It doesn’t hurt to have a physical copy. You’re holding it in your hands, it’s a different feeling,” McKinney said. “A lot of people never experience that, or they haven’t had the chance to miss that yet, but they will.”
Contact Lucinda Toft at ltoft@oxy.edu.
