An illustrator has secured highly sought-after Arts Council funding for a project championing women’s health.
Justyna Green is the only Bridport recipient of the 16th round of Arts Council funding.
She is among 406 recipients – out of 2,042 applications – who received the funding.
Justyna has received the £10,000 cash boost as part of the 16th edition of the Arts Council's Developing Your Creative programme.
Only 20 per cent of the applicants received the funding, out of which only two grants were awarded in Dorset – one to Justyna and one to Emma Kirkbride from Weymouth.
Justyna received funding for her long-term project called Raw. It started as a digital comic in 2021 telling the story of her experience of living with endometriosis.The comic won World Illustration Awards in the same year.
In 2022 Justyna expanded on the project with a 26-page illustrated zine which expanded on her experiences of endometriosis and portrayed the subject with more personal details and more depth.
The award-winning illustrator is a host of the popular On Design podcast.
She graduated with Masters in Illustration from Camberwell College of Arts in London in 2020.
She uses her illustration and writing to talk about things many people go through but rarely talk about.
From periods to endometriosis, uncertainties around having kids to anxiety, she talks about women’s physical and mental health a lot.
She does that to normalise open discussions about matters that affect women, to make them feel less lonely, and hopefully to sometimes have a laugh at how ridiculous life can be.
This year, following the funding, Justyna will work on developing Raw into an animation – creating the key characters, settings and designing the key storylines.
Raw is set to focus on portraying the raw realities of women’s lives, with themes such as endometriosis, sexuality, and motherhood as well as themes of anxiety, kindness, love and friendship.
Justyna said: “The Arts Council funding will allow me to take time to work on this personal project and a subject I’m passionate about.
"My own health struggles helped me understand how much of women’s health is still not discussed enough in the public domain.
"I hope my project can help other women feel seen and understood.”
For more information see Justyna's website www.justynagreen.com and her instagram page www.instagram.com/justynaagreen/
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