Alice Socal: In the beginning there was hope
Could you tell us what you wanted to convey in your work? Which ideas and inspirations became leading in creating the work?
In my comic I want to focus on the seemingly self-evident privileges people enjoy in wealthy countries.
People are tempted to ignore banal habits and lifestyles that are harmful to the environment, but also to other people and animals - coffee in paper cups, flying back and forth, the ubiquitous plastic packaging, etc.
Since humans are often aware of these consequences, they look for reasons that seemingly justify their actions. In my comic strip the koala speaks to one of these people. The animal, which is suffering from the consequences of human actions, extends a hand of reconciliation to the childishly irresponsible human being.
Why is the topic of reconciliation important to you?
Reconciliation is important because both small and big conflicts are closely interlinked with our human nature and existence.
What was the creative process in creating this work of art like? (Do you rather plan a lot in advance, and what is created first - the text or the illustration? What media and methods did you use?)
When I started thinking about the complex of reconciliation, I was confronted with news and images of burning Australia a lot. Images of cute rescued koala bears wearing bandages on their paws due to the burns went viral on social media. Humans save the animals whose world they destroyed more or less directly in the first place. I imagined what this poor koala might say. So in the beginning there was the hope that the animals could forgive us humans for our behaviour. The development of text and drawings is really an interplay. Until the final version I keep making changes again and again. I drew the page digitally.
What else would you like to tell us to give us a better understanding of your work?
I rather think that I’ve already talked too much. I don't really want to explain my work because I have the feeling that this might constraint the different receptions.
ABout the Author
Alice Socal was born in Venice, Italy, in 1986. She began her illustration and comic studies at the Bologna Art Academy and completed them at the HAW in Hamburg.
She has been working as a freelance illustrator and comic artist since 2012.
Her latest graphic novel, Cry me a river was published in 2017 in Germany by Rotopolpress and in Italy by Coconino Fandango. In 2019, she published two shorter comics: Il fratello di Jürgen by Canicola (Italy) and Junior by kuš! (Latvia).
Her work has been presented in many exhibitions, including the comic festivals in Treviso, Bologna, Linz and Hamburg. She works with various publishers in workshops on various projects - from comics for children to comic reports (for the Italian Ministry of Culture, for the Federal Agency for Civic Education, etc.).
Most recently, she published a web comic on the DAAD alumni portal to mark Alexander von Humboldt's 250th birthday.
Since 2018 Alice and her family have been living in Berlin, where she focuses on drawing comics, GIFs and illustrations.