A Grrrl’s Diary: Oh God I’m a Girl
Betty & Veronica cartoon from 1986 alongside my original cartoon in pen on black matte board
Panels
4” x 4”
Poster-size, with 24 panels
27 1/4” x 35 1/4”
1993-2007
Wild interests and an inclination to rage against the machine with a flair that could equal the groupies and rock stars who fascinate her, Lucretia Tye Jasmine, born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, is a writer, artist, and interviewer living in Los Angeles. She earned a BFA in filmmaking from New York University (1988, University Honors Scholar), and an MFA in Critical Studies from CalArts (2006, survivor of the experience).
Veganism and feminism are primary themes in her art and writing. Rough edges and cheap copies indicate her DIY approach; the handmade and recycled, her interest in resourcefulness and popular culture (as well as a lack of money). Groupies and rock stars figure prominently. Eating disorders, rape, self-mutilation, and animal rights are central topics as glamour, disguise, denial, and complicity are examined. Decaying flower petals with push pins, glitter with lipstick kisses, comic book panels and Polaroids signal pop culture, dress-up, and the ruined natural world. The treatment of animals, sea life, and winged critters is a theme in much of her work. Lucretia’s collection of short fiction, Power Ballads, was inspired by the myths and legends surrounding groupies and rock stars, as is her novel, The Adventures of Annabelle Ballantyne, her treatment for an episodic docudrama, The Golden Era of Groupies, and much of her fine art.
Lucretia’s art, films, interviews, writing and zines have been exhibited or published internationally, notably in the Alien She traveling multi-media art exhibition about riot grrrl; the Museum of Broken Relationships; 21C Museum Hotel; the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music; the GRAMMY Museum; the Hotel Chelsea; the Joanie 4 Jackie/Big Miss Moviola video chain letter; Loyola’s Girls on Film Festival; the Lyric Theatre and Cultural Arts Center; the Museum of Popular Culture in the Sky Church; The New York Times; the Punk Museum Los Angeles; and in the documentary series, This is Pop (2021). Her zines have been excerpted for scholarly treatises on Third Wave feminism and the zine revolution. Her work is also housed in Duke University’s Rare Book archives; the Getty Center; the Fales Special Collections Library at NYU, and the United States Library of Congress. Some of Lucretia’s writing can be found online: click 333SOUND and The Los Angeles Beat and Please Kill Me. Lucretia delivered a presentation about her book in process, The Golden Era of Groupies: 1965-1978, and it can be seen and heard by clicking here at the Popular Music Books in Process series.
Lucretia’s debut book, ‘70’s Teen Pop, a poptimistic manifesto with a sober undertone for Bloomsbury’s 33 1.3 series, Genre, was published October 5, 2023.
Photo of Tye by Debbie Bean. @2002