Cristy C. Road is floating in a pool of her own blood, sweat, and occasional tears. C. Road is a 30-year-old Cuban-American artist and writer. Blending social principles, sexual deviance, mental inadequacies, and social justice- she thrives to testify the beauty of the imperfect. Her obsession withmaking art [and her emotions] publicly accessible began when publishing GREEN'ZINE in 1997- a fanzine which was originally devoted to Green Day. The exclusivity of high art disgusted her, as she fell in love with a xerox machine and the creativity expressed through the punk rock community. Eventually, she made friends, found solace outside of a single band, and began including blurbs on other punk rock bands, gender identity, sexuality, aimless travel, and radical organizing. Her preferred mediums are Micron Ink pens, Sharpies, Chartpak markers, fluid acrylic paint, and Photoshop. Today Road works as a freelance illustraor, aside from her personal goals in publishing. Taking both writing and visual elements a step more seriously, her visual diagram of lifestyles and beliefs have are currently in tune to the zine’s portrayal of living.
C. Road graduated from The Ringling School of Art and Design in 2004, despite many arguments about the representation (and credit given to) women in art, and the definiton of Illustration versus commercial art. Afterall, she was hardly on campus; spending most of 2000-2005 investing in radical organizing and zine writing, in various locations throughout the continental US via greyhound. Since leaving Florida, her repertoire now consists of over ten years of independent publishing, and countless illustrations for a broad slew of magazines, record album art, concert posters, and political organizations. Aside from creating art; Road has been performing lectures and workshops of her work and politics in various environments ranging from The Portland Zine Symposium, The Latina Health Summit, and Duke University. Additionally, Road has been performing as part of SISTER SPIT: The Next Generation , an all-queer spoken word road-show.
In early 2006, Road released her first illustrated story, INDESTRUCTIBLE (Microcosm Publishing). It’s a 96-page narrative about her experience as a teenager in Miami, Florida; where Road tackles the themes of being Latina, class, gender dynamics between teens, sexuality, depression, and death; all beneath the topical umbrella of being a queer punk rocker in the mid-90‘s. In 2007 she completed a collection of postcards featuring art from 2001-2007, entitled DISTANCE MAKES THE HEART GROW SICK (Microcosm Publishing). In 2008, Road released BAD HABITS (Soft Skull Press), an Illustrated story about the revelatory and destructive routes one takes when healing from an abusive relationship; in order to reconnect to self. Through a highly autobiographical fictional narrative, Road's protagonist tackles the concepts of reconnecting to her sex organs, stimulant drugs and manic depression, and her psychic connections to the well-being of New York City. Road just released SPIT AND PASSION (Feminist Press), a graphic novel about surviving the pre-teen closet amidst a homophobic society and a newfound love for Green Day. Shes currently working on a TAROT CARD DECK with author, Michelle Tea, and her punk band THE HOMEWRECKERS. She is a Gemini who hibernates in Brooklyn, NY with a short attention span and a killer gas problem.
