Nastya Borisenko is an artist and storyteller who explores deep themes of migration, uncertainty, and personal resilience through vulnerable and sharply observed autobiographical comics. Her visual narratives turn everyday struggles into universally recognizable stories, capturing the heavy emotional landscape of searching for work in a new country and the constant tension between hope, rejection, and self-doubt. For the festival, she presents a comic born from a summer spent writing over a thousand cold emails and undergoing around forty interviews with various educational organizations. Her narrative focuses on the discovery that while many human resources personnel were thoroughly bored talking about work, each possessed a cherished topic they actually wanted to discuss if one could find that “golden vein.” Having successfully secured employment at the end of this grueling process, she has translated the single funniest conversation from her intensive job hunt into an engaging, comedic visual story for the audience.
Exhibits within: Showcase – Comics
Nastya Borisenko
