Bishakh Som is an

Indian-American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

trans-femme

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

and

graphic novelist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...

based in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Alongside her two published graphic novels, her work is published in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' and the '' Boston Review'', among others. Her interests in architecture and her personal story continue to be featured throughout her artwork, notably containing investigations between figure, sexuality and architectural space. Her artwork is very colourful, it commonly uses

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

and is detailed in ink line work

Early life and education

Her parents immigrated from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to the US, where she grew up. Her experience growing up in an immigrant family in the US is shared throughout her graphic novels, often depicting South Asian characters searching for identity, and belonging in a foreign world. Som formally trained in architecture at the

Harvard Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban ...

and practiced architecture professionally before pursuing a successful career as a graphic novelist. Although she no longer practices architecture, her drawings often incorporate ideas of architectural and urban space. In Som's words, she attributes the intention of her work as, "being able to jumpstart the images of queer/femme utopias into being, to have joyous femmes fully inhabiting, dancing, frolicking, thriving in a queer landscape."

Architecture career

Som worked for the offices of Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners, Charles T. Young, and Abby Suckle Architect between 1996 and 2011.

Publications

''Apsara Engine'' published by

The Feminist Press The Feminist Press (officially The Feminist Press at CUNY) is an American independent nonprofit literary publisher that promotes freedom of expression and social justice. It publishes writing by people who share an activist spirit and a belief in ...

in 2020, included eight short stories about a range of characters found in everyday reality. The watercolour illustrations envision alternative futures and intervene with ingrained social norms related to architecture, fetishism and heartbreak. Her second major publication is ''Spellbound,'' which was published by Street Noise Books in 2021. It is a

graphic memoir An autobiographical comic (also autobio, graphic memoir, or autobiocomic) is an autobiography in the form of comic books or comic strips. The form first became popular in the underground comix movement and has since become more widespread. It is c ...

, which she draws from her own life experiences, particularly processing her identity crisis and turning that into a story, a relatable instant for many immigrant children growing up in North America. The graphic novel blends a fantastical representation with real issues or mundane topics that occur in everyday life. An excerpt from Spellbound,

“…Or I could move to India, to cultivate a connection to—well, anything really—culture, family, history, some nebulous feeling, some sense of belonging I never had. Nostalgia for a past that never existed.” Through her art, Som has been able to “create small worlds that kick against the ugliness, hostility and mediocrity of 21st-century life—to manifest characters, words, colors, forms, symbols, patterns and rhythms that point to an aesthetic, one that has been shaped by all the visual and cultural touchstones that I’ve collected in my experience.”

She also contributed to

, ''We’re Still Here'' (The first all-trans comics anthology), ''Beyond'', vol. 2, The Strumpet,

The Boston Review ''Boston Review'' is an American quarterly political and literary magazine. It publishes political, social, and historical analysis, literary and cultural criticism, book reviews, fiction, and poetry, both online and in print. Its signature form ...

, illustrated for Deborah Schneiderman's book ''The Prefab Bathroom: An Architectural History'', the

Georgia Review ''The Georgia Review'' is a literary journal based in Athens, Georgia. Founded at University of Georgia in 1947, the journal features poetry, fiction, essays, book reviews, and visual art. The journal has won National Magazine Awards for Fiction ...

, and

VICE A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...

Awards and achievements

Som was awarded

Xeric Grant Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this h ...

in 2003 for her first self-published comic, ''Angel'' which included a series of short stories. Later, her graphic-novel, ''Apsara Engine'' received the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Best Graphic Novel in 2020 and the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBTQ Comics. She was also a 2021 Lambda finalist for her graphic memoir, ''Spellbound''. Galleries such as,

The Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators is a Professional association, professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. History Founding The Society of I ...

, the Grady Alexis Gallery, De Cacaofabriek, and

Art Omi Art Omi, formerly Omi International Arts Center, is a non-profit international arts organization located in Columbia County, New York, Columbia County in Ghent, New York. The organization provides Artist-in-residence, residencies for writers, art ...

have all exhibited her artwork.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Som, Bisakh Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American graphic novelists American cartoonists American artists of Indian descent Transgender women artists Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni Lambda Literary Award winners American LGBT people of Asian descent