15: Afro-Colombian Cartoonist & Illustrator Arantza Peña Popo

Draws in Spanish | Conversations with Latinx Visual Artists and Designers

This week’s guest grew up drawing book covers and joining competitive reading bowls just for fun! In this episode, I chat with Afro-Colombian cartoonist and illustrator Arantza Peña Popo who’s created comics for publications such as The New Yorker, title slides for Cartoon Network, and editorial illustrations for Refinery29. Arantza and I talk about how people question her existence as an Afro-Colombiana, the persistent conflict between her American and Colombian culture, and how she found her passion for autobiographical comics.

Arantza immigrated from Colombia with her mother as a refugee and landed in Clarkston, Georgia before moving to Stone Mountain, Georgia. Arantza grew up in a diverse community but struggled with the isolation of her identity as an Afro-Latina. These days, she is reconnecting with her Colombian culture through Salsa music, even if that means her mom is technically “winning.”

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Books Mentioned in this Episode:

• One for the money by Janet Evanovich
• Smile by Raina Telgemeier
• Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol
• This One Summer by Jillian Tamaki
• Through the Woods by Emily Carroll

Other Links:

• Junior High by Faye Orlove
• Oblivion by Grimes
• Tiny Splendor Risograph Printing

Guest Info

• Check out Arantza'’s Instagram and Portfolio!

Host info:

• Instagram
• Youtube
• TikTok

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Topics Covered:

1. How her family immigrated to the US from Colombia
2. Growing up in an immigrant and refugee community
3. Growing up bookish and drawing book covers for fun
4. Participating in the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl
5. How people question her existence as an Afro-Colombiana
6. The struggle to identify with the larger Latinx community
7. The strife between her American and Colombian culture
8. How she got into making comics after being introduced to more complex comics
9. Her recent solo show “The World is Looking For You” at Junior High LA
10. How Risograph printing translates the digital into analog
11. Feeling conflicted about fine art and comics culture
12. How she let go of the “elite academic white gaze” for her work
13. Navigating oversharing in her own autobiographical comics
14. Winning the Doodle for Google competition in 2019