While visiting the Fine Arts building last class I was exposed to alternative comics from here in the Pacific Northwest. The artist that caught my attention the most was Mita Mahato. She is comic artist that resides in Seattle, Washington. She is known for her use of collage and multiple layers of paper in her comics. Mahato makes great use of a scalpel to create and layer shapes in her comics. The comic of her’s that I chose was a zine illustrating a story of space travel for an alien. Her materials contrast each other very well which brings out the fact that it is multiple layers of paper glued on top of each other.

Her closure and time frames are very much action-to-action. In the comic “Unidentified Feeling Object,” we see an alien fly around and perform multiple actions rather than talk with dialogue. She uses traditional panels to enclose her space. Mahato also creates a lot of work directed toward aquatic life conservation. Another element she uses well is line work. She creates many textures that are very unusual to a traditional comic format. I believe she is very successful with her style and allows the reader to view her work from an abstract perspective. We must make up our own minds and meanings with Mahato’s work. That is what struck me as the most interesting element to her comics.

Her format is through what is called a zine. I was unfamiliar with zines until I saw her work. Basically, they are a deliberate sequence of images fit together to convey a message. Without dialogue that message is interpreted from the readers own perspective.