Illustrated Book on Concussions
By Kanika Gupta, Lowertown resident, social entrepreneur and artist
BRAVE is a hand-illustrated single panel comic series celebrating the unseen acts of courage taken to carry on following a brain injury.
Created with the financial support of artistic grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Councils, BRAVE is a full-length illustrated book on the topic of brain injury.
Art first entered Kanika’s life following a concussion in 2013. At a time when she struggled to cope with all of the unexpected changes in her life, Kanika began using visuals as her medium to communicate what words alone could not. Her 2018 exhibit, ReThink Recovery, became Toronto Rehabilitation Institute’s first ever contemporary solo art exhibition.
Drawn from first hand experiences, the story is a reminder to everyone that courage comes not from the grandiose heroic acts that are glorified in popular discourse, rather in the micro choices we make to carry on day after day.
Through BRAVE, I don’t represent my concussion as a blessing to inspire nor as a medical condition to be cured. I aim to show readers what it is like to live with the effects of my injury and invite them to experience my world. I am hopeful that I can use my comics to captivate the imagination of a broad audience (beyond those directly impacted by brain injury) and make others reconsider their misconceptions and judgements in an approachable and engaging way.
Quick facts about BRAVE:
• Accessible resource, featuring a visual narrative and large text making it a non-clinical, easy-to-read book, inclusive of readers who struggle to read (acommon symptom among the concussed).
• Kanika’s own journey with drawing comics is parallel to BRAVE: learning dayby-day to try something new and having the courage to put your imperfect self out there.
A public book launch event will take place at Books on Beechwood on the 24th November (2019).