NetChat Sessions☕️ Izzy from Sick Love Zine

NetChat Sessions are weekly sessions where we talk to inspiring women in and around the Bristol community. This series offers the opportunity to hear the voices of inspirational young women in the industry, from entrepreneurs to artists- who are killing it btw!

This weeks discussion is with Izzy Gorman-Buckley: the voice behind Sick Love Zine, a multi-platform project dedicated to voicing the issues that affect young creatives. We discuss her ideas behind launching the Zine, her publishing tips and how you can enter artwork submissions to Sick Love!

What were your motivations and ideas behind creating the Sick Love Zine?

I created Sick Love as means to inspire conversations I felt were crucial but commonly brushed over in more traditional art based media. There are so many issues in the creative industries and so many interesting opinions coming from the youth that creating a platform where people were encouraged to express them seemed crucial.

It began as a website and Instagram featuring articles and imagery from young creatives expressing these opinions, but has quickly developed into a multi platform project offering workshops, events, print zines and more!

To anyone looking to submit work to Sick Love, what do you usually look for?

We are pretty open to anything but we definitely have a tone (as can be seen from our site). I like opinion pieces with a social conscience, or articles that touch on political topics. I started Sick Love as a platform for honest conversations, so that’s exactly what I like to see! Imagery wise, I feel Sick Love has quite a strong aesthetic. It’s quite pink, femme, a lot of illustrative work too. I like to see these themes reflected in the imagery we choose for the site.

What advice would you give to someone looking to create a zine and go down a publishing path?

Just do it!

You’re only wasting your time doubting yourself. Sure, you’ll make mistakes, but learning on the job is the best way to learn. I very much support fake it until you make it attitudes, I’m still faking it, to be honest!

I think that starting a zine takes a lot of consideration - aesthetics, ethos, objective etc. - but once you’ve set those out I believe you should get going and create something beautiful. Collaboration is also key. No one is exceptional at everything. Reach out to people who can help you to achieve the best final product.

How has the pandemic shifted your perspective and process of making art?

Definitely. The pandemic made us migrate everything online. We had plans for events, workshops etc in real life. BUT we have adapted well and managed to pull off everything online, as well as putting a huge focus on our Instagram platform. I am excited for the pandemic to end so we can begin to do things in person again, but we have adapted to the best of our abilities.

Different things empower different women. Do you feel empowered by the work you do? (tell us about your day to day).

You know, it really does. Although a lot of my day to day is emails, coordinating writers, illustrators etc., I know that every bit of it is for me and my platform. Knowing that we can offer information and support for young creatives empowers me every step of the way, even through the boring bits.

To check out more about the amazing work of Sick Love zine or submit work head to there website: sicklovezine.com

Big love xo