Breanna Chambers
I create comics in ink and watercolor that touch on ideas related to identity, sexuality, mental illness, and the formation of relationships. With narratives that explore coming of age themes, my graphic novel details the character’s journey toward accepting her bisexuality. She comes to discover and form her identity through the experiences and traumas of youth.
“What They Don’t Tell You” is an honest reflection on the narrator’s life. The process that a person goes through to realize their bisexuality is complicated and nuanced—inherently different from other LGBTQ+ identities. The narrative focuses on the specific challenges that surface when they navigate their attraction to more than one gender—from elementary school to college. The project explores the beauty of the mundane, and the intimacy of small interactions between individuals—those often-discounted minuscule moments between people that can oddly have the largest impact on people’s relationships and identities.
The driving force behind my work as a whole and with “What They Don’t Tell You” is a desire both to connect with those who share the experience and hardship detailed in the work, and to facilitate empathy with the lives of others in an authentic way.
Illustrations
Breanna Chambers, Summer Plunge, ink and watercolor, 11x14
Breanna Chambers, Amateur Ghost Hunter, ink and watercolor, 11x14
“What They Don’t Tell You”
The following are two excerpts from an in-progress graphic novel entitled “What They Don’t Tell You.” The project is a coming-of-age story centered around the specificity and intricacy of the bisexual experience.
