Key West Florida Weekly

“Drawn to Key West,” come to life




Theresa Chiechi is the artist behind “Drawn to Key West,” a graphic novel that looks into the minds of Mallory Square artists and performers.

Theresa Chiechi is the artist behind “Drawn to Key West,” a graphic novel that looks into the minds of Mallory Square artists and performers.

She’s illustrating an iconic Key West site and coming to terms with her debut show. “I think the imposter syndrome is overriding any anxiety. My brain isn’t registering that this is actually happening.” Theresa Chiechi is the artist behind “Drawn to Key West” — a graphic novel that gets into the minds of Mallory Square artists and performers.

After a recent successful crowdfunding campaign for an expanded edition, Chiechi immediately began preparing for her show at The Studios of Key West, which will portray the process of her work. That show runs Jan. 5-26. “The idea is to show people all the steps it takes to get a finished comic book. So, viewers will get to see Drawn to Key West at every stage of its development.” These were highlights from our conversation.

It’s Meta

My exhibition will be a show about a show — my graphic novel — about some street shows. It’s a very fitting ending to this project! I learned a lot about putting on shows and the art of storytelling from the street performers, so hopefully, the gallery exhibition is as fascinating as their performances are.

 

Mallory Square emerged as a star

When I first came up with the idea, the subtitle was going to be “the story of Key West, told by the people of Key West” and was supposed to have a much larger scope. Key West is an island full of interesting characters and I wanted to gather anecdotes from the locals that highlighted what Key West living was all about. But I was always more fascinated at the prospect of learning about life as a street performer so when I moved to Key West to start the research process, Mallory Square was my first target. And as I started talking to the performers, the other plans I had for the comic started to fall into the background. Their stories were so engrossing to me and as a person also making a living with my art I felt particularly connected to that community. I became all-consumed with finding out all I could about being a busker, and so the performers became
the entire story.

New fear unlocked

This was my first time interviewing anyone and I struggled — still do — a lot with social anxiety. So, I was in panic mode throughout all of my interviews and I wasn’t very good at coming up with questions on the spot. I came to each interview with 20 or so questions prepared and if they brought up something outside of my scope, I wasn’t the best at pursuing those threads. I think the imposter syndrome is overriding any anxiety. My brain isn’t registering that this is actually happening.

Crowdfunding is a marathon

We surpassed our goal of $10,000 and raised $14,321 in total! It felt like running a marathon, between the months of preparation prior to the campaign launch and the actual month that Kickstarter ran for. Marketing and self-promotion have never been my strong suit but I had to be completely shameless. I was posting on social media two to three times a day, hanging up fliers all around town, and emailing everyone I knew. I did Tik Tok dances! Those will haunt me forever. It left me pretty burnt out after it was over. I never want to post on social media again. But it was really amazing seeing all the support for the series.

It’s not all sunshine

When I moved to Key West and started the project, I had a pretty romanticized view of the island and of Mallory Square. But as I learned more about the inner workings, I didn’t want to shy away from including the more negative

sentiments that came up about the hardships of street performing, the future of Mallory Square, and the struggles of living on Key West in my comic. So, while it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, I think overall the comic has a lighthearted tone. I try to deliver all of the info through a humorous lens since that’s how I cope with the tough aspects of life. I think readers will step away from the comic feeling good.

Is Mallory Square business as usual?

Other than the child sacrifice, things are pretty tame over there [laughs]. I would say less “dark side” and more work-office drama. Mallory Square doesn’t look like your typical office setting and its “employees” sure don’t fit the conventional corporate mold, but you’ll find the same frustrations as you would in any other work environment. When you try to organize a bunch of artists, buskers, hippies, and anarchists, conflict is bound to arise. It’s kind of hard to put a bunch of people who chose to work outside the system and have them function as a normal business. ¦

— Interview has been condensed and edited.

In the KNOW

Drawn to Key West: The Making of a Graphic Novel

» When: Jan. 5-26

» Where: The Studios of Key West, 535 Eaton St., Key West.

» Cost: Free; galleries are open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.

» Info: 305-296-0458 or tskw.org. Info on Theresa Chiechi: DrawnToKeyWest.com.

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