IG: @artbyzacsullo
Website

Queering the Music Library

As a gay man, my comics and printmaking approach is inherently queer. My LGBTQ+ ancestors gave me the right to express my views today, and I honor the past by researching their history. In my comics I explore how the same queer love story could have played out differently in another time.

In these narratives, I give pop music the respect all poetry deserves and interpret it as art. I analyzed queer themes in Taylor Swift’s music to challenge heteronormativity and show that there’s nothing wrong with queer perception. The songs Cowboy Like Me, Cornelia Street, and Maroon inspired me to illustrate queer comic book versions, which I printed as toned cyanotypes in a circular-style book. Created out of seven-inch vinyl records, these act as books in a music library with a visual way to listen to music.

Books physically embody my illustration work. I want to portray stories the way that I understand them and share that understanding with others. Being misunderstood influenced me to tell stories accurately and curate the reading experience for each story. This collection of books cements me as a book artist, printer, and ultimately, a storyteller.

Bio

Zac Sullo is a twenty-two-year-old queer illustrator based in Portland, Maine. By combining text and image, Zac aims to tell rich stories in nontraditional ways that share his understanding with others. Intersectional activism is a crucial aspect of his work, fighting for queer rights alongside other minorities. His work combines illustration, comics, printmaking, and bookbinding to fully realize each narrative. Zac’s book arts cement him as an illustrator, printmaker, and ultimately a storyteller.