We were lucky to catch up with Liz Pritchard recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Liz, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

Masking is not just for Autistic individuals like myself; any marginalized group can mask or cover up parts of who they are for various reasons to preserve or maintain a status or image. I am diagnosed Autistic with various psychiatric disabilities, a member of the LGBTQIA+ Community, a recovering addict, lover of art and a poet. Trauma and lack of self-love is often the root of insecurities. That’s why the main focus of my works promotes self-acceptance. I think in pictures and expressing emotions with words can be a challenge. I express myself best in the form of original comic books, my series is titled, “PaperBag Comic”. Finding an outlet through art and creating comic books saved my life. My characters within my stories are based on myself and my experiences. I illustrate my doubt as a person and I give each emotion and experience a visual representation and doing this demonstrates how real these feelings are. Getting my emotions out of my head puts me back in control. I don’t focus on labels because we all have universal emotions and though our feelings manifest uniquely, it’s still something we share. Art has always been a powerful vehicle for me to build bridges and connect when words wouldn’t. It was through Samantha Craft’s blog which was at the time called, “Everyday Aspergers” that I learned I could advocate and express my feelings in my own way from her example. I felt seen and heard when I began reading her blog posts because at the time I didn’t know any other autistic girls. What I read from Samantha Craft helped motivate me to create original artwork and comics based on my experiences and world-view. By pushing myself out of my comfort zone, I gained self-confidence and found a healthy balance with my anxieties. Too much doubt is debilitating, but the right amount can motivate you. I wasn’t always good at expressing myself. In high school, I transferred schools three times. I was bullied really badly and the discrimination continued throughout college. On top of having social anxiety and mental illnesses, I was finding it hard to keep up with school work. Even writing a simple journal exercise in class was a challenge. I would just scribble on the paper, not to be disrespectful; because I didn’t know what to say. A few good teachers helped me express myself and helped me develop as an artist. In 11th grade, I still didn’t know how to write essays. I am incredibly literal and my teacher at the time, Mr. Coats, saw my potential and stayed after school with me and worked with me on how to organize and better articulate my ideas. I went from failing almost every class to getting straight A’s. On the first day of college, a Professor of mine at the time didn’t think my art or stories would get me anywhere. Eventually, I graduated college with a Bachelor’s Degree in Studio Art. Love erases the masks we hide behind. If we all had love for ourselves, there would be no space for insecurities and hate; we wouldn’t need to question or project misconceptions. Finding the right support is critical including but not limited to your physical and emotional needs. Whether you can attain professional support or family and friends and mentors to support your journey to find your passions and path to building bridges. I believe in the importance of connections that can lead to thriving not just surviving. Relationships are extremely important not only with yourself but also with others. Everybody deserves a chance and a healthy outlet for expression and connection.

Liz, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My goal is to Unmask Society by erasing the harmful stigma and negative stereotypes that shadow the Disability Community, the LGBTQIA+ Community, and other marginalized groups. I promote self-love through lived experience which is illustrated within my work and advocacy. PaperBag Comic represents covering up or hiding behind parts of one’s identity for fear of rejection or being misunderstood. My vision is a world where people are free to be themselves where they can have difficult conversations freely on their terms without shame. I don’t focus on labels too much in my comic books because too much emphasis on an identity can tend to further the divide among others. Everyone is human and deserves a fair chance, regardless of labels.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I used to mask my Autism because I used to perceive my flaws and challenges as negative or something to be ashamed of. I wasn’t socially aware especially prior to college, I didn’t know how to advocate for myself back then. Now I embrace my identities and conditions because I now recognize the powerful importance of diversity. When I started illustrating my feelings as characters in my comic books was a turning point for me, so when I started attending comic book conventions as a artist and vendor… I met people who resonated with my work. The positive reactions to my stories and artwork gave me a sense of healthy confidence and then I realized that everyone has doubts and insecurities – by connecting and learning about others, we then build bridges instead of burning them. I got involved with ANCA (Autistic Network for Community Achievement), I met other like-minded Autistic individuals and found an amazing, supportive community of others from all over the world.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I had developed an eating disorder from a very young age as a result of personal traumas and what led to my diagnoses of Autism, Anorexia and Paranoid Schizophrenia when I got support and a good team of doctors at the hospital in 2009. It took me over 10 years to get back to a healthy weight and parts of my body were shutting down. I turned to gambling and unhealthy coping methods as a way to escape from my past traumas. I was severely addicted to gambling for about 7 years. I haven’t relapsed in over 2 years, I can carry cash with me now and haven’t gone back to the casinos or bought a single scratch-off since. I feel the main gateway to most addictions seems to be trauma and unresolved pain. I express my feelings best through my art since I think in pictures and I’m an extremely visual thinker. Art is a powerful vehicle to heal and can express what words cannot and there are so many ways to communicate.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sites.google.com/view/paperbagcomic/home
• Instagram: liz_paperbag_comic
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/paperbagcomic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-pritchard-03767a135/
• Twitter: PaperBag_Comic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lizpritchard

Image Credits

All artwork is original from and created by Liz Pritchard.