CADAVER CHRONICLES MEMOIR SERIES

WHY WRITE A MEMOIR ABOUT MY RELATIONSHIP TO DEAD BODIES?

Excerpt from Cadaver Chronicles Episode #2 by K. Willberg. 

I'm remembering my love of anatomy related to dancing.

I teach a drawing class in a cadaver lab. This dream job inspired me to make Cadaver Chronicles, a philosophical, occasionally explicit, and sometimes poignant and funny graphic memoir about childhood, anatomy, death, dying, healthcare, art, food, and relationships.
 
For artists, healthcare workers, scientists, and scholars, the study of actual human bodies affects how we perceive the dead and gives us context for reflection on the deaths of others and ourselves. For me, every living creature has an anatomical identity. For many, anatomy is not only an area of scientific knowledge and technical specificity, it’s a lifestyle!

I've already written and drafted roughly 200 pages illustrated with comics as well as 20 years of drawings from my sketchbooks. What kind of sketchbook drawing? My sketches from the cadaver lab where I teach, figure drawings where I anatomized the live models (just for fun!), animal sketches including an anatomized kitten, comparative anatomy sketches where I turn animal skeletons into people, general sketches of bodies, some bones, and even some dancers. 

EPISODE #1

 Here's the cover of this 24 page episode. I drew it from a selfie and anatomized my face. That's my spouse, cartoonist R. Sikoryak in the background. He's been tolerating my fascination with bodies for 30 years!

This first episode starts with the book's prologue about how I was terrified of death as a child. So much so that driving by a cemetery with a friend when I was 10 terrified me. 

How could I remember that? By gazing at my sketches and following a chain of flashbacks from my trip to the Paris Catacombs at 50, through a series of events taking me back to the cemetery. 

Then Episode #1 gets into Chapter 1 of the book.

Highlights include my father getting me very interested in animals and anatomy. So much so that one day, he brought me a bullfrog from the biology department on the campus where he was a professor. We dissected it in the basement together.

Dad was so encouraging that he was totally supportive when a friend and I started hanging out a a local veterinary clinic. 

Obviously, a childhood of catching wildlife, dissecting frogs, and assisting in the medical and surgical treatment of animals began to soften and moderate my fear of death.

Here are a few pages and excerpted panels.

Interested in browsing a copy? If you live in New York or New Jersey, I'll be selling them this Saturday and Sunday, March 16-17th at MoCCA Fest  in Manhattan, sponsored by the Society of Illustrators.

A description and samples of Episode #2 will be posted next!

VIRTUAL MEMORIES INTERVIEW

TALK, TALK, TALK
A few weeks ago I had a chat that happened to be an interview with Gil Roth for his Virtual Memories Show. 

Curious about the origins of my Pathology Laffs series? How about some opinions on how people learn, or strategies for making science funny? Maybe you're curious about my past dance career. Follow this link to Virtual Memories, click on my interview, and brace yourself for an hour of fun! (The first 12 minutes are an interview with writer Paul Di Filippo) My Interview (#154) starts at minute 12:45 on the download.

I thought it might be fun to post some images and links to accompany my conversation with Gil. Here's your program!

MINUTE 12:45 MY BIO AND INTRODUCTION

Dura Mater (Dance and Anatomy Projects before 2010)

Marymount Manhattan Dance Department

The Cinematologist

Integrative Medicine Service at MSKCC

MINUTE 14:20 CARTOONISTS AND DRAWING INJURIES

Me from our last visit to the Center for Cartoon Studies

First Aid, part 2 of my self care series.

MINUTE 18:20 THE PHYSICAL STRESSES EFFECTING CARTOONISTS

From (No) Pain!

MINUTE 21:20 THE CHALLENGES OF TEACHING GOOD HABITS

It's much easier to teach people interested in what you have to say. 

The trick is to find a way to get disinterested people interested!

MINUTE 23:35 MY HISTORY WITH COMICS AND SCI FI

Welcome to my 10-year-old-world!

Andre Norton, Dark Piper

My Sci Fi tastes have matured, I guess.

Love these guys! (James SA Corey)

MINUTE 26:00 GROWING UP IN A WORLD OF NERDS

Dragon etching from Junior High.

MINUTE 30:30 HOW PATHOLOGY LAFFS AND LOUISE THE LOUSE CAME INTO BEING

The gag cartoon that started it all.

The earliest Carousel Cartoon Slideshow poster I could find. 

My illustration is the cancerous mice, bottom right.

MINUTE 35:00 DANCE, PERFORMING, DANCING COMPARED TO DRAWING

This pic got me a page in Dance Magazine.

For more about past dance projects see DuraMater.org.

MINUTE 41:00 NEEDLEWORK, MEDICAL IMAGERY, AND COMICS

Two in-progress pieces I will be submitting to 4Panel.

The bottom images are from a SciArt Center workshop.

Catherine's Knee, photo by Tom Henning.

MINUTE 52:37 TEACHING ANATOMY: BACKGROUND, VISUALIZING ANATOMY, SPECULATIVE ANATOMY

Joan Reilly created some incredible anatomy images based on class homework.

Drawing on a body helps us visualize structures under the skin.

MINUTE 59:30 MORE ABOUT SELF-CARE FOR ARTISTS

WOW! YOU MADE IT! TAKE A BREAK.

OUT OF RETIREMENT FOR ONE LAST CAPER

THIS IS THE SOUND OF ONE HEART BREAKING
I used to be a choreographer. Did you know that? Had a dance company, made some dance films, and worked with lots of extremely talented people. One of those talented people, James Urbaniak, asked me to choreograph a music video he was directing for Drazy Hoops. Love James, love Drazy. Timing was right. Couldn't refuse. 

The video refuses to load from You Tube, but you can see it here.