Olivia Fredricks

Olivia Fredricks is an illustrator and printmaker who lives and works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Olivia’s work usually starts with a drawing and ends with the printed mark, using risograph or silkscreen. Olivia does not teach any comics classes or workshops…………yet.

You can see more examples of Olivia’s work at www.oliviamfredricks.com or on instagram @oliviamfredricks

Have you ever felt embarrassed or ashamed about reading comics?

I’ve often felt embarrassed about reading and making comics. The good thing about living in a big city now is that I’ve been able to find the pockets of peers who like the same comics as me, this might be the first time I’ve ever felt that. I grew up between Texas and Arkansas and I think I first got really into the Sunday funnies, which was pretty benign coolness-wise for a kid. But I got really into manga as a pre-teen, and started hiding that more when I got into high school because it wasn’t cool back then the way it seems to be now. I did this state-funded summer program called Arkansas Governor’s School and they had an optional one-time reading group where everyone got a copy of Marjane Satrapi’s Peresepolis for free, but I didn’t participate because I didn’t want my new friends from all over the state to associate me with nerdiness and childishness. Which seems silly now because that comic in particular is so political and impactful and mature. And all throughout undergrad I made comics for myself to process things happening in my life, but I never showed them to anyone. I thought people wouldn’t take me seriously as an artist if they knew I was making comics. Something shifted when I graduated and making art wasn’t for a grade anymore. I feel safest making comics when I don’t have as many eyes on me.

Do you have a favorite comic shop that you visit? Where is it? What makes it so great?

Partners and Son in Philadelphia is the first comic shop that I’ve felt really attached to. There were other comics shops I’ve liked, but only as a casual customer. P+S is so much more than just a comic shop. In addition to stocking all of my favorite independent press comics, they’ve got incredible programming and exhibitions related to comics and graphic language. They hosted a puppet show that was on tour in 2021 that was really incredible. And I’m still riding the high of Aisha Franz’s reading from her book tour for Work Life Balance. My fellow printmakers at Tyler and I put together a collaborative publication titled ‘Help Yourself’ that we recently showed there. Through p+s events, including the Philly Comics Expo, they’ve built this incredible community around themselves and connected artists from around the city to each other. Gina and Tom are incredibly generous and have created something really special for Philly.

How do comics inspire or inform the work you make?

The imagery in my prints has always been pretty narrative. There are definitely a number of my prints and drawings that I look back on and realize they just wanted to be comics. Also my hand is pretty illustrative, and that’s a direct result of years and years of absorbing comics.

My comics are pretty comic-like. Every now and then I try something looser or different but trying to re-invent the wheel with every story is really distracting. I have trouble getting really into a narrative if I’m exerting so much energy fighting my own instincts/tendencies. So I fall back on the established comics language most people are familiar with.

How long have you been making work that references comics?

The whole time, I just didn’t always realize it!

Have you ever been afraid or worried about making artwork that references comics?

Yeah I made a lot of bad art trying to avoid it looking like a comic, and still do. I’ve been trying to not let those worries affect what I make but they do. 

I graduated last year with my MFA at Tyler School of Art so it’s been easier to make comics now without so many eyes on me. I’m very protective of my work in progress. I think because I made comics as a personal practice for so long to process complicated feelings and things happening in my life, they feel more vulnerable. One of my goals is to post more of my comics on social media so I can get over some of that self-conscious feeling, and so more people know I make comics.

There have been a couple times in and outside of school when artists who I guess don’t like comics/illustration have seen my work and reacted “eh” to it. But I’d probably have the same reaction to their work.

I’m having a moment now where I feel like I haven’t fully committed to a distinct direction for my work. Now that I’m out of school again and it’s a fresh start of sorts, I feel like I have the option to lean more heavily into making comics. Yang Cong (an indie chinese cartoonist) and Edie Fake (author of Gaylord Pheonix) have careers in painting and comics. I’m not sure which part of their practice supports the other, but I’d imagine comics aren’t doing the heavy lifting. I’d like to maintain a practice that’s multidisciplinary. And I’d especially like to find a way to live off of my work, whatever that work ends up being.