Lynda Barry seems to be full of bold images, dark/odd words, and an overwhelmingly fascinating mind. I enjoy reading her book if not for the sole purpose of thinking about the words she writes and then asking myself the same questions. The image I chose is one of my favorites on page 15 of the book. It was hard for me at first to decide on a part of the page I wanted to capture. A quote I took out said, “And year by year memory scrubs a prison” (15). I did love the wording but the image was not much to go off of. Instead, I chose the anatomy system she uses frequently throughout the book. Honestly, I think Barry is trying to say that childhood is messy (whether creatively speaking or with home life/ school life). I say this because not all that she writes makes sense but at the same time life, childhood, and art/images don’t always make sense. The reason I think she comes from a darker past is the coloring in the image (Dark reds, yellows, images of plant life). The body is outlined in flames starting at the head and ending with a fish that reminds me of something stinky and rotten. I found the photo had more to just the anatomy. There is a face in the liver and stomach and green venus flytrap like plants where the brain and productive organs would be. The words on the sides make no sense but the checks on the sides say otherwise.- I think she wrote it beginning with lighter childhood memories to darker thoughts and odd insightful questions. She might have also written the book in away mirroring her life growing up. The media she used is clippings from books and newspaper as well as from medical books. This relates to her message that art and life is messy and the answer is not always given or known.The same way taking apart a page of writing and gluing it to another book gives it a different meaning or might also give words that would be forgotten in a book seem more drawn out. Words such as, “the eggs of a certain blue hen,””the coal age” and “a piece of paper pours from volcanoes” are some of the lines I was drawn to and would use.
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