Marissa Paternoster

Marissa Paternoster makes art on everything from postcards to the sides of buildings, in many places but centering on her native New Jersey. A source of inspiration has been her mother’s struggle with mental health and creativity. Paternoster’s work is activated by the tension between the gift/curse, considering shared solitude through frenetic and sometimes frightening visions. She went to school for visual art, but owes a greater debt to the underground music subculture that fostered her. The gift/curse of punk's DIY ethic also informs her aesthetic: you must do it yourself, because you are alone. She has nonetheless found collaborators and supporters, not least in the form of her acclaimed band, Screaming Females. Her first graphic novel, with writer Joe Steinhardt, is set for a 2022 publication date, and her third full-length solo effort will arrive early the same year. Fittingly, it is the first she will release under the name Marissa Paternoster.