MRR Comics & Art Issue Artist Q&A with Emma Kohlmann
This month’s MRR magazine is the Comics & Art Issue! Throughout March we are highlighting some of the participating artists right here on MRR.com. Today we hear from Emma Kohlmann from Northampton, Mass.
What are your main publishing projects?
I’ve self-published over 25 different zines. Album art and T-shirts for Hoax (first 7″ insert and poster in last LP), Natural Law, Rabbit Rabbit, and Psychic Blood. Label art for Caught on Tape, the Thurston Moore/John Moloney duo. Comic for NUTS! fanzine. Collaborated with poets such as Joe Sulier and Chelsea Hodson.
What are some of your artistic influences?
Shunga (Japanese erotic wood cuts), R. Crumb, The Fountain of the World by Jan Fabre, Ann Sexton.
Musical influences?
Motown, Neil Young, Lil Kim, Ivy, and Discharge demos.
How would you describe your style of drawing?
When I draw with brush pens, it’s mostly about the condensing of lines on a page. I have many different modes of creating, this way is much more expressive and loose.
What other punk projects are you involved with?
I am pretty involved in the punk/underground community in Western Mass. Bands like Chemiplastica, Cherry Love, Gluebag and Gay Mayor are some close friends. Some friends help run a DIY space called the Flywheel. Feeding Tube records puts out some amazing things. I helped my friend Jenna Weingarten run a small gallery in a storage space called Headquarters, where we curated a show called the Enlargement Show with over 80 artists involved nationally and internationally. The walls and ceilings were cover with some of the best underground artists. I collaborate with friends frequently; some of my faves are Nina Hartmann, Sara AbruÁ±a, and Sonya Sombreuil Cohen.
What’s in the future for you as a cartoonist/artist?
Work, Work, Work.
Check out more from Emma at emmakohlmannart.tumblr.com.
For links and more info about this artist and all of the artists in our Comics & Art Issue, check out the artist bios page.
