At TED, Cartoonist Liana Finck Explores The Sources Of Creativity

What if the God of the Old Testament were a woman? And not only a woman, but an insecure woman artist who can’t stop tinkering and worrying over her creations? As cartoonist Liana Finck filtered her own experiences as a female creator through the lens of her traditional Jewish upbringing, it all suddenly made sense. So for her third full length graphic novel, she decided to retell the Book of Genesis along these lines. The result is Let There Be Light: The Real Story of Her Creation (Random House, 2022).

Finck, who has been drawing quirky, stylized comics for The New Yorker in addition to her several long-form works, had the opportunity to share her perspective with an unusual audience last month, giving a TED Talk at the annual TED Conference in Vancouver, BC.

“I didn’t realize they still did TED Talks, said Finck in an interview before she went on stage. “I was asked to propose something, but as a freelancer, things are always falling my lap, so I don’t get too excited when something is offered. I braced for disappointment, not taking it too seriously, but this time it worked out.”

Finck isn’t the first cartoonist to take the big stage. In years past, luminaries like comic art theorist Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics) and political cartoonist Andreas Petroulakis have expounded on various aspects of visual storytelling. But Finck, in her mid-30s, represents a rising generation that has absorbed the examples of the alt-comics stars of the 1980s and 90s and developed a distinctive new voice and aesthetic.

In Finck’s case, that takes the form of a dramatically simplified style, full of nervous, expressive energy. “I think that comes from having felt like I was not good enough in art school,” she said. “If you look at work I did early in my career, it looks like I’m trying to pass a test. Once I realized I didn’t need to use fancy materials, it’s much more casual.”

Finck says she took inspiration from comics she read in her teens by Daniel Clowes, Lynda Barry, Robert and Aline Crumb, and New Yorker legends like Roz Chast and Saul Steinberg. That got her thinking about making comics, although she initially studied fine art and design. “After art school, I got a Fulbright to go to Belgium and study Herge, who created TinTin,” she said. “I was supposed to be making a comic about TinTin which never saw the light of day, but it was good practice.”

When she returned, she started submitting cartoons to the New Yorker, while also receiving a fellowship from a Jewish foundation to create a graphic novel about a Yiddish advice columnist. As her skills developed, she produced several more works about her difficulties making personal connections, such as Passing for Human (2018) and Excuse Me: Cartoons, Complaints, and Notes to Self (2019).

For her most recent book, she decided to explore her relationship to Judaism. “The idea arose after I finished Passing for Human, which is a memoir about being a woman and an artist. There’s a little bit of magic there about being a woman and a creator, and I felt well-connected to writing a bit of the Book of Genesis with this female God character. I’m lately describing her as being a shy artist, not a big, grand, self-serious artist. I grew up pretty observant, so I really feel close to the Torah.”

Let There Be Light runs through many of the familiar stories from the Book of Genesis, including the creation, Adam and Eve, Noah and the flood, and the Jewish lineage of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. In each case, the characters and setting are unstuck from history and envisioned as more or less contemporary. They all wend their way through the familiar plot points in relation to Finck’s reimagined female deity, who views them with bemusement and concern. It all works because it is filtered through Finck’s disarmingly innocent style and great comedic timing.

Did this all connect with the TED audience? In a program where many speakers grappled with how we should greet our emerging AI overlords, Finck’s musings on the nature of creation provided a much-needed tonal contrast. Her talk came at the end of a block of speakers addressing topics ranging from the metaverse to drug-free pain management to ocean conservation, and the departure from heavy matters seemed a relief to most attendees.

“I think this audience can maybe use a little bit of humor, maybe a little bit of light,” said Finck.

And there was light.