Finding Identity and Starting Conversations

Remy Coutarel

WRITTEN BY KRISTEN BOEHM | IMAGE COURTESY OF REMY COUTAREL

REMY COUTAREL, A FrancoAmerican artist who has lived in Bellingham since 2017, believes that art can be used to open dialogues. After moving to the U.S. in 2011, exploring aspects of artistic and personal identity in Seattle and Bellingham, and experiencing the naturalization process firsthand, they are ready to start conversations with illustrations and comics.

Coutarel grew up in France, where comics have persisted as an important cultural institution since the early 20th century (think “TinTin”). French and Belgium comics are referred to as bande dessinee, and sometimes called “the ninth art.”

“The bande dessinee comics are huge. I think [in the U.S.] there’s an idea that comics or cartoons are made for the younger crowd, whereas in France, they’re just for everyone,” explains Coutarel. “It’s not only about superheroes; you can talk about everything, anything.”

Coutarel was always passionate about meeting people and telling stories, and learned to draw while studying graphic design in France. Upon arriving in Seattle in 2011, they found underground comics and zines via artistic hubs like Cafe Racer and Fantagraphics. In the small publishing scene, artists would meet, share, create, and publish their stories together.

Seattle’s expressive comics influenced Coutarel’s style and stoked a desire to collaborate and create meaningful art. After moving to Bellingham in 2017, they focused on illustration. Amongst professional projects and teaching at Gabriel’s Art Kids, they also began work on personal projects like QART.

QART acts as a free art gallery accessible to anyone with a smartphone. At five different locations around Bellingham, people can find one of Coutarel’s QR codes, scan them, and observe an illustration integrated with the world in front of them. The artist hopes that these illustrations provoke thought, offer a chance to shift perspective, and encourage curiosity about the community around viewers.

Coutarel is also working on a large comics project called Immigration Stories. It came about after their own experiences gaining American citizenship in 2019.

“I’m from France and I’m white, so even though I experienced immigration, I didn’t experience it with as much hardship or complexity as some others,” they say. “I don’t want to [seem] as though I’m a representation of that, but more to use my experience to understand that there’s so many stories to be told here, and I would like to share in the conversation.”

The artist found the naturalization process to be convoluted, with hardto-navigate forms, stressful meetings and tests, and extremely high stakes. Becoming an American citizen also came with many questions about identity. While some think it might boil down to “what language do you dream in,” or “what nationality do you feel like,” the lived experience is harder to detangle. Coutarel also observed this in other people who were immigrating. The desire to demystify the process of immigration while giving individuals a platform to share their unique stories and identities lead to the Immigration Stories project.

“I want to share who they are, not define them like, ‘Oh, you are an immigrant from this country, and that probably means this,’” they say. “All that means is that they are themselves and this is part of their stories, and their story is so much more complex than that. This is what I wanted to share with this project.”

Immigration Stories will be longform comics posted in increments on both Coutarel’s website and the platform Webtoons. While they will be free and accessible to everyone, readers can support the project via donations or Patreon membership. To learn more and take part in the conversation around immigration, visit their site and feel free to send in your feedback!

“Making art is starting conversation,” says Coutarel. “So going back and forth, it should be part of the process. … Sometimes the conversation is maybe not what you wanted to say, but starting the conversation and having it is what’s important, right?” Bellingham, remycoutarel.com 

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