OPINION: Fan Art Is a Valid Artform
March 18, 2024 • Written by Sophia Dedek
Upon hearing that Dan Miaskewicz was putting on a gallery show entirely composed of gay fan art, I knew a discussion needed to be had about the relationship between fandom and the academic arts.
I have always been a firm believer that fan art is an important art form because I think it is a core tenant of the young artist’s journey. As a youthful, prospective artist, drawing your favorite characters in the margins of your math homework is an almost unavoidable fact of life. Despite how universal I believed the experience to be, in my own journey to becoming a working artist, I had heard nothing but disparaging remarks from professors and teachers about the validity of the practice. I knew I needed to dig into the fan art gallery so I could informally prove those professors wrong. So, I sought out Dan (read: talked to him when he came over to my apartment to watch anime) to help me with this study. I thought his gallery was the perfect jumping off point to prove just how prominent fan art is, and I could use it to make a case for it as a valid form of art to discuss, create, and even possibly – if the future were to be so bright, teach academically.
I chatted with Dan over the phone for a bit, and asked him about his inspiration for the gallery in the first place, why he thinks fan art is so important, and what he hoped people took away from the show in order to formulate an argument for the validity of this aspect of artist culture that is hidden in plain sight.
The title of the gallery was Intricate Rituals, a reference to the artwork by Barbara Kruger which points out the cultural attitude toward male touch. The full line of text seen on the original Kruger piece says “You construct intricate rituals which allow you to touch the skin of other men.” Dan cited his initial inspiration as a moment when he saw a catalog of illustration work, and one of the first pieces he saw was a piece of fan art for The Last of Us. Along with that, he recalls drawing fan art as being an integral part of his growth as a queer artist. He states that “drawing gay ships let[s] people have a creative outlet outside of the direct canon… I think a lot of people, myself included, put a lot more energy and love – and thought – into their fan art...” Not only could I personally relate to this thought, but the evidence is also there when you look at the gallery turnout. When Dan put out his call for gay ship art, he received over 75 individual works by artists from every major on campus. So it seems that everybody is doing it, but why?
Dan brings up the claim that queer artists, especially from our generation, are hungry for representation and also eager to express themselves creatively by sharing their interests:
“[…] as queer kids, there wasn't anything. So we were able to find things that had subtext and hyper-fixate on that. And then we started creating fan art because we are creative minds. We are people who want to take the things that we like, and play with them creatively…
[…] we're predisposed to being queer and to being creative. So I feel like it's almost like a natural marriage of those two things where we're naturally creative, and we're also naturally gay.”
Dan makes a great point here – so, why is it that people seem to have such a negative view of fan art, particularly when it’s gay? I can personally attest that I have had professors, high school teachers, and even friends say that fan art is something “other” than real art – that it is something to be kept separate from what would be considered “marketable” or “presentable” in a professional setting. However, I think that with the rise of social media and the tight-knit fan communities that form when fellow artists connect with each other, there is a lot of room for marketing, networking, and portfolio building. I asked Dan about his social media activity, and he pointed out to me that the artwork that gets the most traction when he posts is fan art; opposed to original work that gets a fraction of the attention. This attention can be utilized to your advantage as a way to get eyes on your work; it actually has the potential to land you a job.
The specific fact that all of the work in the gallery is in relation to queer men is also a point of note. Even among people who don't have an issue with fan art itself, there are many people (including myself) who have faced pushback from others due to the queer nature of the work. There are many people out there who have a problem with their favorite characters being interpreted as members of the LGBTQ+ community. A lot of people make the disingenuous association between gay fan art and pornography. Dan even commented that he had people asking him if they could submit works that were explicit. He says “[...] it’s very taboo for two men to touch each other [even when] it’s not explicitly gay, and if it’s explicitly gay, it’s usually seen as pornography.” And there is backing to this claim. Look at the recent protests against LGBTQ+ education in southern schools because people find that sort of subject to be “inappropriate” for children. But with this collection, Dan wanted to challenge that idea and instead highlight the intricate rituals' that men create to satiate their starvation for touch.
At the reception for Intricate Rituals, I spoke with a couple other students and asked them about their relationships with queer fan art. Fellow student Nic Cilley was in attendance, having work in the gallery, and he spoke to me about the technical value of making fan art. He said, “...having something to draw when you have nothing else to draw is always fun… if you’re drawing characters, then you’re practicing the form…” This is a great point because he touches on the long-term benefits of drawing fan art – in this case, he specifically points out how repeatedly practicing drawing the figure is how a lot of people can improve their technical skills.
Rowan Kaplan, another student I spoke to, said “Artists thrive on community… fan art can give you that… [it can] push you to push yourselves to create more, how can that be a bad thing?” Rowan brings up the importance of networking and building relationships with other artists. The professional arts are a field that is inherently collaborative. Think about how many people it takes to create an animation or to design a logo, for example. The relationships that you build in the communities you are a part of can follow you into a professional career, and you will already have people to work with or advocate for you.
I want to close out on a powerful statement that Dan said to me that pretty much summarizes everything that was touched on previously:
“...people are not alone in creating this type of art. There is value in all kinds of art, even if some people shoot you down for making [it]. Clearly, there’s a market for it. And clearly, there are people who are going to be making the same kind of art. And, I think it’s more important to celebrate art that people make instead of trying to find ways to invalidate it…”
Find Dan’s work at @glass.soda on Instagram, including photos of Intricate Rituals
