Blank Days by Jessica Pavone – SEE SAW Comics, Webcomics from the Sequential Artists Workshop

Blank Days by Jessica Pavone

“Blank Days”  The comic is rendered with black, minimalist contour lines over a white background. “When my husband left, I was eating breakfast—cereal. The tragic and mundane. Since being cut loose, I’ve found nothing to grasp. Nothing whole or bright.” A woman stares blankly ahead. Three stone fruits sit on a (non-rendered) table.

“There’s a condition—aphantasia. It’s a blindness in the mind. No images to accompany thoughts.” The woman is naked and reclining like an odalisque. Two figures, an adult and child, rest their heads together. The woman poses naked as if before a mirror.

“Picture: a winter’s day.” A panel of scribbles. “It’s your birthday.” Another shaded-in panel. “Your husband says he’s leaving / you.” The woman leans over, fixing her hair. Her face is scribbled out.

“Now: picture an adult male / walking out. Is the image well defined?” A portrait of a woman with a large, fancy hair-dp. Another of a woman holding a small animal in her arms. They resemble works from art history.

“I can’t picture anything on the day he left. The space has no contours and the light is cloudy. Blankness is the image that stays.” Three face-less silhouettes of people who appear to be dressed in graduation gowns, one with a cap. Another odalisque-style image of a reclining woman.

Published On: July 1, 2024

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One thought on “Blank Days by Jessica Pavone”

Judith Margolis
11/08/2024, 9:59 pm
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Jessica, this is excellent and very relevant (although my experience is TOO MANY IMAGES.) but you are very eloquent. thank you!!!

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