Drawing Life Outside The Lines: Cartoonist Jennifer Camper On Opening Minds With Art, Kensington’s Diversity & More

Jennifer Camper has been making provocative, biting, and defiant independent comics for more than 30 years. Her work includes Rude Girls and Dangerous Women, contributions to World War 3 Illustrated and Bitch magazine, and two volumes of the anthology Juicy Mother. Recently, she took the time to chat with us about her work and living in Kensington.

How long have you lived in Kensington? What is it like now as opposed to when you first arrived?

I was a Manhattan resident who never thought I’d live in Brooklyn. Ha! My girlfriend and I moved to Kensington in December, 1999, seeking more space for less money. We had friends in Kensington, and housing here was affordable. This neighborhood felt comfortable in its diversity, less expensive food, and access to both the city and nature (Green-Wood, Prospect Park, Coney Island five miles away, even two horse stables).

Of course, the neighborhood has gentrified since then, but thankfully, slowly. When we first moved here, our subway entrance had no advertising, just empty black rectangles on the walls. Later, I don’t remember exactly when, suddenly there were ads. We had become a neighborhood worth advertising to. 

I regret that Kensington might become too expensive. I certainly couldn’t afford to live in my building if I was moving here now. But this neighborhood has a strong community of people who have a history here, and they aren’t leaving anytime soon.

How has that strong community affected or informed your work?

The diversity of people in Kensington is great for cartooning. While walking around I study things like shoes, or hair, or body movements to get ideas for characters. I can eavesdrop on folks from all over the world to get examples of dialogue.

What drove you towards comics and cartooning, and how has your work changed over the 16 years you’ve been in Brooklyn?

I drew and wrote and made comics since I was little. Cartooning is a cheap way to make art, and it lets me explore writing, drawing and graphic design. I used to do single-page or short comics, and now I’m exploring longer stories. That might be a natural development of the art, but perhaps it’s also because the energy of Brooklyn is a little calmer than Manhattan.

Your work focuses strongly on the non-mainstream experience, yours specifically as a lesbian and a Lebanese-American, and in general. In your view, are things getting better in society for people who are, for lack of a better phrase, outside of the socially codified “norm”?

In America, marginalized groups are slowly obtaining equal civil rights and opportunities. Looking backwards, it’s encouraging to see a great many changes, but looking forward, more needs to be done. And worldwide, there’s still incredible injustice. 

I think art and pop culture can do a lot towards opening people’s minds, and getting people to see new points of view. When comics, films, books, or television feature characters who are diverse, folks get more comfortable seeing them as equal. I make comics about mixed-race, kick-ass lesbians because those are the comics I want to read.

Speaking of which, what projects are you working on now?

I’m currently completing a collection of graphic short stories, comics ranging in length from one to 50 pages. They’re mostly dark and irreverent tales with sly humor that examine sexuality, gender, class, and race.

You can check out more of Jennifer Camper’s awesomeness on her website.