Next up in my series of mini-profiles of women cartoonists who are featured in my film, Women Laughing: the inimitable Roz Chast!
Roz’s work is like no other’s; when she appeared on The New Yorker cartoonist scene in 1978, most of us didn’t know what hit us. But we loved it.
This was her first cartoon published in the magazine.
Roz considers herself a storyteller. Born in Brooklyn, she began drawing as a kid, then at some point realizing that she could make herself laugh with her drawings. She went on to study art at the Rhode Island School of Design, and sold to The New Yorker soon after graduating.
Roz’s cartoons really make us ask—in a good way— what is a cartoon? It’s not always about a “joke,” or a “gag.” A New Yorker cartoon can be a personal view of the world, with humor. This is true of Roz’s work, it is very much like her, and since I personally know her, I can attest to that. What you get is how Roz looks at the world, how she feels about being in this world. And we can relate to her world, that’s what makes what she does so great.
Below are just a fraction of her wonderful drawings from over the years.
