Kayla E.
Kayla E. (she/her) is an award-winning Texas-born artist of Mexican American descent. She works as creative director at Fantagraphics and is a recipient of a 2023-2024 Princeton Hodder Fellowship. She is the co-founder and former President of Nat. Brut Inc., a non-profit that produces an art and literary magazine, of which she was the Editor-in-Chief for nine years. She earned her B.A. in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard University, where she served as the Art Director for the Harvard Lampoon. Precious Rubbish, her graphic novel debut, is a work of trauma recollection told in the style of post-war children’s comics. Kayla lives in North Carolina with her wife and two dogs.
Praise for Precious Rubbish
“Precious Rubbish is a scream as precisely pitched as a middle C from a tuning fork . . . Her work is such an unexpected mixture of control and frankness that it is impossible to ignore.” ― The New York Times
“Kayla E. uses her medium to striking effect: her wry portrait reveals a fresh eye, at once vulnerable and undaunted.” ― The New Yorker
“This four-color atomic bomb of a comic signals the arrival of a formidable talent.” ― ★ Publishers Weekly Starred Review
“Kayla E.’s uniquely unconventional, hauntingly shocking debut graphic memoir is reminiscent of a complicated mosaic that’s missing pieces but has been filled in with unexpected replacements to create a disturbing collage both horrific and beautiful.” ― ★ Booklist Starred Review
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Education
2013
Harvard University, BA in Visual and Environmental Studies
Fellowships
2023-24
Mary Mackall Gwinn Hodder Fellow, Princeton University, Lewis Center for the Arts
Awards
2023
Nominated for an Ignatz Award: Outstanding Anthology (NOW No. 12)
2021
Simon Rockower Award in Layout and Design, American Jewish Press Association
2020
American Illustration 40 Winner
2013
Whiting Literary Magazine Prize, Nat. Brut
2018
American Illustration 37 Winner
2013
Albert Alcalay Prize in Visual Arts, Harvard University
Curatorial
2018
Juror, American Illustration 36
2014
Juror, “Hecho En Dallas,” Latino Cultural Center Dallas, TX
Exhibitions
Solo
2019
DRUNK TANK, Culture Hole, Dallas, TX
2014
Kayla: Now and Then, Now and Again, Deep Ellum Windows, Dallas, TX
2014
Watch Kayla, The Safe Room, Dallas, TX
Group
2025
Then and There, Here and Now: Contemporary Visions of North Carolina, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC
2025
Marfa Invitational, Marfa, TX
2024
Is It Real?, Hignite Projects, Lagoon Studio, Dallas, TX
2023
Thought Forms, Central Server Works and Marian Cramer Projects, Paris, France
2020
Culture Hole TV, Episode Three: Drugs
2014
Dallas Aurora, Dallas, TX
Selected Publications
2025
“A Graphic Memoir With the Volume Turned All the Way Up,” The New York Times
2025
“Li’l Kayla Endures It All,” The New Yorker
2024
“Gift From Uncle Ben,” Introduction to Popeye Vol. 4, Fantagraphics
2024
Precious Rubbish excerpt, NOW No. 13, Cover Art, Fantagraphics
2024
Precious Rubbish excerpt, NOW No. 13, Fantagraphics
2022
Precious Rubbish excerpt, NOW No. 12, Fantagraphics
2021
Precious Rubbish excerpt, NOW No. 11, Fantagraphics
2020
Precious Rubbish excerpt, The Dreadfuls Special, Rotland Press
2020
“Marge’s Little Lulu,” The Comics Journal No. 305
2018
Precious Rubbish excerpt, Rotland Press Single Shot
2018
Precious Rubbish excerpt, Booth Journal, No. 12
2017
Precious Rubbish excerpt, Resist, edited by Francoise Mouly and Nadja Spiegelman
2017
Precious Rubbish excerpt, The Southeast Review No. 35.2
2017
“Kayla Sees the Lowcountry,” Ecotone Magazine No. 22
2017
“All of Them Witches,” Black Eye No. 3, Rotland Press
2016
Precious Rubbish excerpt, The Spectacle
2014
“Kayla’s Day In,” New Delta Review
Public Speaking
2025
Precious Rubbish Book Tour, Greensboro, NC
2025
Precious Rubbish Book Tour, Richmond, VA
2025
Precious Rubbish Book Tour, New York, New York
2025
Precious Rubbish Book Tour, Philadelphia, PA
2025
Precious Rubbish Book Tour, Chicago, IL
2025
Precious Rubbish Book Tour, Asheville, NC
2024
Durham Zine Machine
2024
Small Press Expo
2024
Heroes Convention
2024
Princeton University, Lewis Center for the Arts
2023
University of Nebraska, Omaha
2023
Carousel (at Small Press Expo)
2023
Small Press Expo
2023
Heroes Convention
2023
Dartmouth College
2023
Swan Con, USC Sumter
2022
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus
2022
Small Press Expo
2022
Heroes Convention
2022
ICON Conference 11: The Illustration Conference
2019
University of Chicago
2017
ArtCenter College of Design
2017
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts
2016
ICON Conference 9: The Illustration Conference
2016
Oberlin College
2016
The University of Texas at Dallas
2016
Southern Methodist University
2015
Harvard University