Praise for Patterns by Mita Mahato
“It’s part vaudeville, part demonstration of how hard it is to really talk and listen, and it’s entirely beautiful.”
-Paul Constant in The Seattle Review of Books
Praise for Sea by Mita Mahato
“Her paper-cut style, and topics drawn from her dreams, are both compelling and unique. Feel free to drop the common advice not to share your dreams, if your subconscious does half the work of hers.”
-Martin McClellan
Mita Mahato is one of handful of artists and writers whose visionary work is defining the new genre of Poetry Comics. In Between is a collection of pieces that bring together simple, elegant expressions of thought and emotion with dreamlike mixed media artworks. There are comics that reflect on grief for a loved one who has died of cancer and others that explore ideas of inspiration and surrealist delight. Others combine whimsical word play with visually absurd witticisms. Each work in this volume stretches the definition of what a comic can be, as well as expectations for how much genuine feeling words and pictures on a page can hold.
Mita Mahato’s cut paper art and comics explore the transformative capacities of found and handmade paper using layered shapes, textures, and colors that together build multivalent images and stories. Her cut paper comic “Sea” was recognized by Cartoonists NW as 2015’s “best comic book” and will be the subject of continued work during her participation in the Arctic Circle Residency in 2017. Her comics and collaborative projects have been spotlighted by The Stranger, Seattle Review of Books, and AV Club. She is Associate Professor of English at the University of Puget Sound, serves on the board for Short Run Seattle, and teaches art workshops for Seattle Aquarium’s Creativity Inspiring Conservation program, Henry Art Gallery’s ArtVenture program, and other community organizations.
