reinventing pop culture: how a hb pencil made malala an international dj

I used to feel as though if you weren’t versed in Monet or Van Gogh, then art wasn’t really your “thing”. Growing up, my family was quick to label me and my sisters. I wasn’t smashing A*s across all my GCSEs, so I made up for it with a constant spew of 6/10 jokes - and therefore I was the “funny one”. Because of this I never saw art as something to pursue. My twin sister, who is hugely talented in her own artistic right, had taken art GCSE and A-Level. You can probably tell what her label was. She had a knack for whipping up five-minute sketches of her favourite artists – which I was wholly envious of.  

It was only in my second year of University did I say screw it and picked up a pencil and started drawing. I’ve always had a thing for being provocative and pushing boundaries, so it seemed fitting that my drawings would also encompass that. Mixed with my love for pop culture (oh come on, like you didn’t binge Keeping Up With The Kardashians), out was born joadibartofficial: a-millennial-picks-up-a-pencil-and-draws-pseudo-political-but-super-fun-concepts. 

Sometimes my artwork takes two opposing ideas and slams them together (Miley Cyrus in an Islamic hijab). Other times, they are contemporary political narratives (Angela Merkel sat on an EU throne holding Boris Johnson’s severed head). On the rarer occasion, they’re just about having fun (Malala Yousafzai as a world-renowned DJ). A constant between all of them, however, is that they are all things you’ve probably never seen before. 

Since 2016, drawing has been a source of joy, therapy, and a creative outlet that I wouldn’t have found elsewhere. Not since I was a kid could I sit for hours on end letting my imagination run wild. I’ve been able to create stories about real people doing things they’d never be capable of (not that I’m doubting Kim K and her endeavors to get a law degree – you go, Kimmy). I am my own puppet master of Hollywood – all from the confines of my bedroom desk. 

You can view Jo’s drawings on Instagram.