The anti-troll: This artist is making social media a safer space one illustration at a time

Hana Shafi's messages of positivity have struck a chord on the internet and gained her a loyal following

Media | The anti-troll: this artist is making social media a safer space one illustration at a time

Caption: Hana Shafi’s (aka Frizz Kid) illustrations of healing struck a chord on the internet and gained her thousands of followers.

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In a world wide web full of trolls and haters, Toronto-based journalist and artist Hana Shafi — a.k.a. Frizz Kid — has created a safe haven on social media. The work that she illustrates and posts on her Tumblr(external link), Instagram(external link) and Twitter(external link) accounts offers support and positivity with messages like "you are good enough" and "it's OK to put yourself first." And her posts empower her as well.
"I think just the ability of having such immediate access to people is a form of power that artists of colour and artists of just several marginalized identities just never had before," Shafi says.

Image | Hana Shafi

Caption: (CBC Arts)

In this video, we meet Shafi at her home to talk about breaking out with her "Healing is Not Linear" illustration and why people are loving her online affirmations.
Follow Shafi here(external link) (especially if you need a bit of a boost).
Watch CBC Arts: Exhibitionists(external link) on Friday nights at 12:30am (1am NT) and Sundays at 3:30pm (4pm NT) on CBC Television.