Ripple Effect

Archive, #21 Salt, #21 Art & Comics / By
Stephanie Ochona
Stephanie Ochona is a Filipino multidisciplinary illustrator and writer based on unceded Woi Wurrung land. Her creative work explores diaspora and belonging. She is currently completing her Masters in Design, Innovation, and Technology at RMIT.
Comic. ‘Ripple Effect’ by Stephanie Ochona. This comic has two pages. It’s hand-drawn with pencil and features handwritten text. The comic is rendered in shades of blue and white. Page 1. On the first page of the comic are four rows of panels. A curved thick blue border undulates around the page. The first row is made up of one long panel. It shows two figures falling outlined in a dark blue. The one to the left is reaching up and the other figure is falling backwards. Vertical blue pencil strokes fill the background in the pattern of waves. The second row is made up of three panels. The first and second panel is overlapped by a figure collapsing onto the ground in dark blue. A single thick blue wave made up of pencil strokes moves across the three panels. The text written across the three panels reads: ‘I push against waves of you. Legs kicking’ The third row is made up of one long panel. It’s filled with several overlapping figures suspended in motion. The background is filled with vertical blue pencil strokes in the pattern of waves. The figures are sketched in a darker blue. The fourth row is made up of three panels. A single wave filled in with pencil strokes makes its way across these three panels. Figures sketched out in dark blue from the third row overlap this final row. The text written in these three panels reads: ‘still taste you in my mouth. In my lungs.’
Page 2. The second and final page of the comic shows two rounded rectangles of blue vertical pencil strokes in the pattern of waves. In between the two rounded rectangles reads: ‘I am suspended in everything you did.’ Overlapping this text is a single figure suspended in midair. One hand is reaching out towards the top of the page.

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