The Year Was 2020 : An Art Zine by Jillian West (Now for Sale!)

I made an art zine about the start of 2020 and it’s for sale at Electric Blanket Now! 100% of profits will be donated to Black Mamas Matter. Learn more Below.

The zine was made over the course of our first few weeks living in Los Angeles, starting mid April, after four weeks of isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic. I was home with two very small children after leaving our beautiful home in Berkeley, California, renting a small house while looking for a permanent home. We hadn’t been out in the real world other than short neighborhood walks, and the waves of emotions were manic at best. I wrote a note to myself to “make art while it hurts”, knowing the profound feelings sitting deep within would be fleeting- the world seemed to be shifting rapidly, daily.

My hope is that the zine will be a reference point to look back on in five, ten, twenty years- maybe in five days or weeks- so much of it is already obsolete, as the country “reopens” despite the virus still pervading, as the country enters the third week of an uprising against police brutality and racism that will hopefully bring change to the world… Fingers Crossed. My goal is to release Volume Two late in the year. Who knows what our collective story will be then.

It’s also been challenging to balance my excitement over the zine, which arrived from the printers literally while people protested in every city in the world, and knowing that nothing else matters right now. That what matters is that we stop everything in effort to be loud and raise as much awareness as possible about the reasons people are on the streets, the history that brought us here, and the things we can do to change it. So yes, there’s an art zine and I’m super excited about it, but I’m only down to promote it if it can serve a larger purpose- which is why I’m donating 100% of proceeds to Black Mamas Matter, an organization I’m already donating to amongst others.

And so here we are. If you’re not sure whether you should speak up, you should. If you’re not sure you agree or you’re walking the line because you’re afraid of the consequence, well, I hope you can learn why that’s the wrong side of history to be on and join us over here where Black Lives Matter, where Trans Lives Matter, where it’s time to go out and vote, to use your voice and your platform and your privilege as loudly as you can.

I hope you enjoy the zine as much as I loved making it. It’s depressing, but real, and maybe a little bit funny.

xx

Jillian