Bio

Mackenzie Mullins is a digital illustrator, comic creator, and visual developer hailing from Oklahoma City! She received her BFA in Studio Art from the University of Oklahoma in May 2020 and is currently working on an upcoming webcomic entitled A Bride For Me. Her work deals in human connection through inhuman characters, exploration of self through folklore, and above all-- fantasy babes.

Artist’s Statement

One of my favorite misquotes of all time is Neil Gaiman on G.K. Chesterson, which reads: “Fairy tales are more than true – not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.” It boils down Chesterson’s verbose statement into the heart of the thing—that we as readers learn from fantasy.

            Through empathy towards fictional characters I often find entrances to introspection. Many children were socialized through books and media rather than crowds of peers, and I am no exception. I have always used fiction and the struggle of a character’s narrative to extrapolate meaning into my own internal conflicts and seemingly unanswerable questions.

            There is a magic in identifying with a character—watching them grow from their mistakes and overcome obstacles (especially self-made ones) can help pry someone unstuck from a negative cycle of thought. Being able to imprint on a character and say “this is me right now, this is where I’m at, and it might not be me tomorrow if I see how they got out of it, or how they dug themselves deeper,” can be crucial to processing a part of yourself you didn’t expect to untangle so innately.

            “That character is beautiful, so I must be too.”

            “That character is loveable, so I must be too.”

            It’s easier to look at a TV than a mirror.

            This is part of why representation is so crucial, because this sort of self-discovery through reflection is so powerful that failing to offer it to everybody is truly consequential. Through positive artistic depictions of plus size figures, for example, I began to repair my relationship with my body. I want all of my work—illustrations, pinups, narratives, designs, to have the ability to incite this “aha” moment in someone else. That lightbulb—even faintly, continues to glow brighter once it has been lit.