By Weng Pixin, published by Drawn & Quarterly. Softcover, 252 pages, colour, 2025. An admonishment, a command, a mantra Weng Pixin revisits herself at her most vulnerable, in her art school days. She tries on various identities trying to understand who she is. Is she a sexual libertine? A fine artist? A sensitive friend? Just then, in steps a charismatic art instructor who helps her see her true worth. She joins his tight-knit group of artistic seekers and begins her real education. But…is something sinister lurking beneath the surface? Rivalries develop, friends disappear or are cast out, her instructor's words take on a caustic edge. Pix becomes unmoored and less sure of herself than ever before and she begins to suspect she’s entered into a cult. Dream-like floral collages shift to more stripped-down, character-based cartooning. Weng’s bright colors and rubbery people persist as her writing becomes more diaristic and detailed than her previous collections Sweet Time and Let’s Not Talk Anymore. Wake Up, Pixoto! is an interrogation into how groomers operate and how we can allow ourselves to be coerced into a world we DON’T want simply because we’re unsure of what we DO want. “Was I manipulated? Was I tricked?” The insidious thing is maybe we can never be certain.
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