Four-color Riso print of 16-page zine by Dana Variano. Printed by Cosmic Doghouse Press in Kingston, NY. Hand numbered first edition of 400.

First 200 copies come with a hand drawn & coded Scantron sheet for extra grade school cringe! Includes free shipping, available within the US only.*

How to measure a feeling? To chart a moment? Or graph a relationship? In “Emotional Equations,” artist Dana Variano has curated five years of drawings that attempt to answer questions like these.

This was my first Riso project, and I cannot thank Aurora of Cosmic Doghouse Press enough for their guidance and expertise. Drawing this bad boi by hand, in layers, each in grey scale, on sheets upon sheets of paper, was an act of love and resilience. Seeing the riso turn each grey page into a rainbow of emotion was something spiritual to behold.

With roots in Cognitive and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, “Emotional Equations” plots out experiences, emotions, and how I move and change in the world. The zine mixes math and feelings, a nonbinary take on studies that are typically unrelated. (And yes, the math checks out, according to my expert fact checker Dr. Evan Variano). The blue book exam format is a nod and *insert offensive hand gesture here* to public school standardized tests and the way young kids are forced to quantify success and box in our ideas and dreams. The Scantron is a bonus for the first 200 editions! Knocking the project over the edge into “nostalgia nightmare,” this idea was thought up by my pal when we we’re brainstorming the project one night. See if you can crack the code 💙 

*Want to save $5 on shipping? Live local to Poughkeepsie, NY? Send me a message and I’ll drop it off locally for $15!

The future isn't binary, and neither are you. Tell 'em so. Spread 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101