Behind the scenes putting together the layout of Duluth-based zines and poetry collections is a visual artist creating works in several mediums. Sabrina Wertman, or Swerty, has paintings and other artwork available at Alt Creative, The Loch Cafe and Games, and recently had a display up at Wussow’s Concert Cafe. They created the poster for the 2024 Boubville event, where attendees can interact with a new art installation they’re curating. Their visual art can continuously be found in issues of On the Record, a local arts zine that they contribute comics and complete the layout process for. Photos of their artwork and an interview with Swerty can be found below.

When did you start making art? Can you remember a time where you began to focus on it more intentionally?

Art was always what I was doing instead of looking up at the teacher in high school. I tend to not know where to look or what to do with my hands. I’d go home and watch a ton of how-to-draw tutorials and then practice that while sort of listening during history class.

I started being more intentional with my artistic practice since moving to Duluth about three years ago. Prior to that, I had moved around a lot and it was tough making art a priority. Now, I have a desk dedicated to my art and other projects, as well as a thriving artist community that inspires me to work toward things.

What is your main focus, themes or mediums within your work?

My main interests are in experimentation and trying new things. I like to do improvisational drawings and paintings that kind of unfold however they are going to unfold. I love a good fantasy creature and art relating to being queer. I like making a piece with similar repeated elements just filling up a page. I also love a good skeleton. Nothing like a skeleton.

Mediums are mainly in drawing, illustration, painting, photography and graphic design.

I’m familiar with your work on the Duluth/Superior Pride Zine as the graphic designer or layout on that project. Can you describe more of your work with zines?

Yeah! I do the design for On The Record, a twice a month publication featuring the music and art events coming up for the next two weeks (something I also do a comic for in each issue).

I did the graphic layout design for Freshwater Feral for the Duluth Poetry Chapter, as well as Anastasia Bamford’s poetry chapbook Morphology. I have also made a few one-off printer-sheet-sized zines of my own, as well as a tabloid-sized collage zine put together from recycled materials, both of which were distributed during the Scribes and Vibes Zine Festival. I have also contributed art to a couple of collaborative zines out in the world as well: Moss Piglet, Coin-Op Press and Thunderbird Review.

Can you describe the artistic display you included during the 2023 Boubville festival? Do you have a video or photos of that project?

Totally! I had a great time working on that project. Last year’s project was a sculpture of a squid Cthulhu-type head where the eyes were postcard-sized screens that had rotating sets of motion graphics that would be affected by audience members playing a xylophone hooked up to the system. There were some hiccups in weather and my health that caused the interactivity not quite operate as intended, sadly.

This year I am working on something that I am very excited to share, but its too early to reveal at this time.

Has your work as a technician or light tech impacted your work as an artist? Can you tell me more about that work, or any intersections it has with your visual art?

I believe it has. I honed my skills in collaborating with others as part of my lighting work. I also got really good at really looking at things: the way that colors mix, the way light hits objects and people, and how light can define space and volume. Lighting can do a lot to set a scene and make spaces feel a certain way.

What are some of the other projects that you’ve done?

I’ve also been into diorama making recently. Which is exciting considering that Prøve is having a diorama group show coming up in 2025.

I also play bass in a couple of projects coming up for Ides of March at Pizza Luce, as well as for C U Next Tuesday.

What other projects are you hoping to continue working on in the future?

I want do more with sculpture and integrating tech! I think there are a lot of good people in Duluth that know more about that to speak with. Interactive experiences really interest me.

I would also love to illustrate a comic or book sometime. I don’t really have a story in mind for this, but if anyone in the Duluth literature community has a story you want drawn, please let me know!

What do you like about being a creator in Duluth?

The weird and queer artist community is alive and breathing and kicking and wonderful. Lots of community support and lifting other artists up. Really stoked on how much community I feel living here. There’s so much visual, musical, poetic and conceptual creativity going on. It’s amazing.

More of Swerty’s work can be found on Instagram on both @swertyman and @swartymanisdrawing. Their website can be found at sabrinawertman.com. For a future December feature, Jess is taking photo submissions for a Twin Ports curated “Elf on a Shelf” post. Please feel free to send any hidden elves or Elf on a Shelf spoofs to [email protected]. If you need inspiration, check out Swerty’s gourd on a board, below.