Drawing My Life Has R̶u̶i̶n̶e̶d̶ Saved My Life
Exhibition by Nicoz Balboa created for ARF! Festival, in Mattatoio ROMA 2025
Each year, the Self Area of ARF! Festival hosts an artist whose work is rooted in self-publishing. This edition presents a solo exhibition by Nicoz Balboa—comic artist, visual creator, tattooer, and transfeminist activist, born in Rome and now based in France.
Active in Rome’s late-’90s/early-2000s DIY and fanzine scene, Nicoz developed a distinctive narrative voice built on the graphic diary: an intimate, direct tool for telling personal stories and observing the world. An independent artist by choice, Nicoz shares thoughts and narratives through webcomics, zines, podcasts, and videos, nurturing a lasting bond with a supportive community.
In recent years Nicoz has published three graphic novels tied to this personal journey: Born to Lose (2017), Play with Fire (2023), and Transformer (2023).
At the core of this work lies a raw, honest practice:
“Whenever I feel I’m falling apart, I stand before the mirror and draw self-portraits until all the pain stays on the page. It’s the only way I can see myself and understand who I am.”
With a style shifting between gritty punk and glittery pop, Nicoz explores identity, sexuality, and trans experience through a blend of irony, vulnerability, and provocation, rooted in LGBTQIA+ and transfeminist culture. Their voice remains fresh and unfiltered, addressing motherhood, artistic crisis, gender transition, love, and daily life with equal depth and lightness—perfectly captured in the title: Drawing My Life Has R̶u̶i̶n̶e̶d̶ Saved My Life.
