Cristy C. Road is a Cuban-American artist, writer, and musician. Through visual art, storytelling, and punk rock music, C.Road has thrived to testify the beauty of the imperfect since she began creating art in her hometown of Miami, FL. She grew up as a self-taught figure drawing artist with a penchant for all things that questioned society and began publishing Green’Zine in 1997– a fanzine which was originally devoted to the punk rock group, Green Day. Merging with the anti-authoritarian intentions of the punk rock community, the zine transformed into a manifesto about being a queer Latina abuse survivor, and her journey towards self-acceptance. Her preferred visual art mediums are Micron Ink pens, Chartpak markers, acrylic paint, Gel Pens, white-out, (and sometimes Photoshop). While taking both writing and visual elements to a more serious level, her diagram of lifestyle and beliefs remain in tune to the Greenzine’s foundations.
C.Road graduated from the the Ringling School of Art and Design in 2004 with a BFA in Illustration, in order to support her ambition to eventually teach. Although, at a private art school in a red state, she was fairly infamous, as the punk feminist who changed her legal name to a Green Day song and spent most of her time protesting the representation of gender and race in art. Now, C.Road has almost 20 years of independent publishing under her belt, along with years of creating countless illustrations for a slew of magazines, record albums, event posters, and social justice organizations; as well as years of teaching though unconventionally through workshops and lectures across the nation.
In early 2006, C.Road released her first illustrated novel, Indestructible (Microcosm Publishing), a 96-page narrative about high school; and later in 2007, a collection of postcards entitled Distance Makes The Heart Grow Sick (Microcosm Publishing). In 2008, she released Bad Habits (Soft Skull Press), an Illustrated story about healing from an abusive relationship; and lastly in 2013, her most recent book, Spit and Passion (Feminist Press, 2012), is a coming-out memoir about Cuban identity, discovering Green Day, and survivng in the closet. C.Road’s curent project is The Next World Tarot (2017), a 78-card tarot deck detailing themes of justice, knowledge, accountability, and reclaimed magic; illustrated, written, and published by C.Road.
Aside from creating art; Road is a songwriter and guitarist, having fronted the pop-punk group, The Homewreckers from 2008-2016. She currently fronts Choked Up, a project that doesnt stray too far from the Homewrecker’s foundations, but proves a departure in style and bilingual lyrics.
Having organized entire tours for The Homewreckers, Road has been performing readings, workshops, and lectures since first touring with her art in 2005. She’s traveled nationally and internationally on her own, and namely with The Homewreckers, Sister Spit: The Next Generation (an all queer spoken word performance tour), and Race Riot! (A national tour hosted by The People of Color Zine Project). Cultivating a performance trajectory with a consistent show of defiance, she performs at bookstores, record stores, basements, bars, college campuses, and beyond. Some notable presentations have been held at The New Museum, The Latina Health Summit, Fed Up Fest: Chicago’s Queercore Fest, Smash it Dead Fest, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, La Mama Theatre, Yale University, Evergreen State College, and the Museum of Modern Art.
Cristy C. Road is a Gemini Sun with a Moon in Cancer and lives in Brooklyn, NY
