The aesthetic of the language of comics relies on the interpretive eye of the reader. While traditional comics create meaning with words and images, the hallmark of abstract comics is in the presentation of narrative as art. This is a device used to deliver a stylistically unique emotional impact. The abstract comics artist’s success hinges on their ability to connect broadly with an audience who can suss out how the images work in sequence to tell a story.
This often makes the conveyance of the emotional content of abstract comics more personal.
In her self-published new book Trigger Shot, London-based graphic designer and illustrator Tal Brosh upends this relationship to a fascinating degree. She takes a highly charged situation, described as “a woman’s journey through infertility and medical intervention”, and, in 24 wordless pages, lays out this odyssey in an almost antiseptic manner. Trigger Shot is filled with literal diagrams and sequences of processes combined with both clinical and metaphoric images awash in bright and bold colors. It’s a fascinating and almost instinctual read, keeping you at arm’s length while pulling you in simultaneously.
The following is a short email interview I recently conducted with Brosh about her book.
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Daniel Elkin for SOLRAD: Talk to me a little about the title of the book. Why Trigger Shot?
Tal Brosh: For those who don’t know, Trigger Shot is an injection taken as part of some fertility treatments to force-release mature eggs. There is a lot of jargon when you go through fertility treatment and it can feel overwhelming when you begin, but soon enough it becomes part of your daily life.
DE: Can you speak about the origin of this work? Why focus on IVF and why did you make the artistic choices you made? The lack of language and the very clinical imagery give Trigger Shot a distant, medical feel, but the process of going through IVF can be deeply emotionally and physically painful.
TB: Trigger Shot was inspired by my own and some of my friends’ experiences. Due to delaying having children until later in life, we found ourselves battling with fertility. I was the first on this journey and felt very isolated and lonely. I started working on the narrative when I was pregnant but abandoned it later due to a lack of interest. A couple of years later, when some of my friends found themselves going through similar journeys, I felt I needed to finish it. I realized infertility is not discussed enough and still carries so much stigma, shame, and guilt. I was hoping the book will encourage conversation and will help someone out there feel less isolated.
The language of Trigger Shot is indeed very clinical and I guess this is partially due to my own individual way of experiencing life in general but also because in parts, I felt very detached from myself, my body, and my feelings. A sense of losing control. You just need to carry on with the process no matter how you feel – time is precious and one has to do all sorts of unpleasant things to get to see those two lines on the stick.
DE: I was hoping you might elaborate a little on the “stigma, shame, and guilt” around infertility. Where do those feelings come from, how do they manifest, and how do you feel that Trigger Shot addresses these feelings? And, I guess, ultimately, what do you hope the book adds to the conversation?
TB: I think for a lot of people, infertility comes as a surprise. You go through some sort of a grief process while you also have to get on with the practical side of things. Your body fails you in one of the most basic things it’s supposed to do, it feels like a failure. If you are on the older side of things, you might torture yourself for waiting too long. At the same time, it can be a very isolating experience – it’s not something you want to mention to anyone, it’s so personal – that adds another layer of emotional difficulties.
As to what I am hoping the book will add to the conversation – I don’t have an agenda as such, I am just hoping that by being there the book helps the subject become more discussed, every person can make whatever they want from the story.
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