2022 | Self-Portrait of the Artist and Her Favorite Chonk
“Storytelling is my favorite way of communicating ideas & emotions.
I love creating art that brings stories to life.”
It’s Me, Rori!
I'm a visual storyteller specializing in history, myth & misfits. I love coffee, cats, and a good story. And speaking of stories, I suppose I should start with my own…
Picture it: St. Louis, sometime in the early 80s (it’s probably hot and muggy). A kid with a ridiculous mop of dark hair picks up a pen and proceeds to draw. on. EVERYTHING. Somehow she doesn’t get in trouble, and so she keeps drawing.
Life isn’t posh, but it is filled with books and art and creativity and ideas; she feels like she could do and be anything (even if the world has a different opinion). And out of all that anything, she keeps coming back to one thing: Art. But not just art, a particular type of art, the kind that let’s you speak, create unimagined worlds, tell stories great and small. That’s what feels like home.
It isn’t a straight line for her to get there, it isn’t even a solid line. But a lot of people help her along the way; some know it, but many probably don’t. Either way, she’s grateful and determined to help others in kind. This story isn’t done.
I call myself a “visual storyteller”—and it’s a good fit—because no matter what I’m doing: designing, cartooning, illustrating—I bring it back to communication, narrative, meaning. But what that meaning is is even more important to me. Concepts like justice, liberation, ethics and mutual respect and care aren’t just abstract ideas or talking points, they’re essential parts of my story—past, present and future. I think of them as non-substitutable ingredients for my top-secret art recipes.
My grand, deepest hope for my work is that it opens minds and comforts misfits. That my stories find their people, inspiring the next generation, and maybe even stirring us jaded older folks. That’s the story I’ve been working on my whole life, and I’m sticking to it.
Exhibitions
Coloring STL
August 2022 – February 2024
Beyond the Ballot:
St Louis and Suffrage
August 2020 – June 2022
Press
Chatelaine Magazine • Interview
St. Louis on the Air (NPR) • Interview
Town & Style • Feature
Upworthy • Feature
Wikipedia (Medium) • Feature
Women Write About Comics • Feature
Selected Clients
Creative Commons Canada
GlitterCats Games
Harley-Davidson
Harvard University
Missouri Botanical Garden
Missouri History Museum
St. Louis Regional Chamber
Tower Grove Park
Selected Published Works
Groundbreakers, Rulebreakers & Rebels
University of Chicago Press
Sugar • Tori Amos’ Little Earthquakes, Z2 Comics
Unbought & Unbossed • Femme Magnifique, IDW
We Can Be Heroes • Womanthology, IDW
Wanna Work Together?
I’ve had the pleasure of working on big projects with household names, cultural institutions and non-profits, but also with small businesses and hundreds of individual clients. If you think I’d be a good fit for your project, click the button below to start the conversation: