Sam Szabo’s Broad Gestures

Sam Szabo’s alter-ego first appeared in her work at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I was still relatively early in my gender transition at that point,” she recalls, “and it was a very psychedelic experience for me. There’s the bodily transformation aspect, of course, but to experience this profound identity shift in adulthood is disorienting on a spiritual level.” From this experience arose “The Enlightened Transsexual,” a character that enabled Szabo to channel her anger and incisive critiques, but more importantly, her humor and power. “For trans artists—particularly the memoirists—there’s an expectation that you’re going to offer up your trauma for the delectation of the reader,” explains Szabo. “To me, though, humor offers a chance to take the power back a bit. It keeps the audience on their toes, makes them feel a little less safe in gawking.” In this month’s Drawn to MoMA, Szabo reflects on her parallel journeys of becoming a cartoonist and becoming a woman. Alongside her alter-ego (affectionately nicknamed ET), she explores the Museum and reflects on the ways artists of all kinds have used “broad gestures” to convey complex meanings and ideas.

Sam Szabo is a cartoonist from the North Shore of Boston, now based in Chicago. Her debut graphic novel, Enlightened Transsexual Comix, was published by Silver Sprocket in 2023. Sam has seen Phish live twenty-seven times.

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